


Undertale Fallen Determination: Book 1

by CobaltGemini



Series: Undertale Fallen Determination [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Chara, Cobalt Gemini, Fallen Determination, Female Chara, Friendship, Gen, Hurt / Comfort, Undertale AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:01:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 42,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26146039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobaltGemini/pseuds/CobaltGemini
Summary: What happens when the Fallen Child is not the one to take their life to pass the barrier? After the death of her brother, Chara, escaping her father’s anger, finds herself staying with a family of skeletons. This is the story of Chara and a dark skeleton grow up and grow a friendship... before the great fall.(Female Chara, eventually an Adult)
Series: Undertale Fallen Determination [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1898614
Comments: 22
Kudos: 9





	1. The Encounter

Dark... Darker... Yet Darker...  
Darkness spreading out into infinity...  
Like a starry sky... each star representing a different universe...  
But separated by the black void... the nothingness in between realities...  
Whispers from other worlds echoing, unable to fully discern what is being said...  
A place there are no rules, no laws of physics, where time does not flow...  
Scattered across time and space...  
Where you are close to everything, yet so far away...  
Where you fall, but stand on nothing...

When you’re in a place like this, the only thing you can do is reflect. Reflect on what could have been, and what was lost when you fell.

* * *

I remember running. Running away from my father’s rage.

I was heading down the Waterfall ridge. It was always raining there. Mother said it was because the monsters wanted to remember the sound of rain, so they cast a spell to make it rain permanently in that area. I didn’t understand why, because the rain was

I was soaked from head to toe, down from my light brown hair, my green and yellow-striped sweater, brown cargo shorts, and brown sneakers. My warm brown eyes were filled with tears.

I was close the reaching end of the ridge, when I slipped in a puddle, and fell down.

“Well, that was quite the fall.”

I looked up to find a skeleton kid standing just outside the rain, leaning against the wall. He was standing at about five feet, which compared to my four foot four, was a little intimidating. He was wearing a black button-down polo shirt with gray stripes, gray slacks, and black loafers.

In his hands was a multi-colored cube, where it’s individual sides were rotated around. I’ve never seen one before, but it didn’t look like anything the monsters would have made, so it must have come from the surface. This kid could take all of the matching color sides, scramble them in seconds, then spin them back into their matching colors.

His eyes... skeletons don’t actually have eyes, just empty black sockets, with glowing white dots. Except for him, his left eye was drooped down, like it was melted somehow. There was a crack in his skull above that eye, and another crack below the other eye.

And he was looking straight at me, and it wasn’t a friendly look.

“Now, what would someone like you be doing here?” he asked.

“I... I’m... sorry, I-” I tried to say.

“Sorry? About what?”

I tried to speak up, but I couldn’t keep from sobbing.

“Perhaps you are sorry about what you’ve done to the monsters.” he crouched down, and looked me straight in the eyes. “Isn’t that right, human.”

“I’m sorry!” I screamed, “I didn’t want to do it! I didn’t mean to kill him! I didn’t want to kill my brother!”

The kid stood back, with a look of curiosity in his eyes. “So, you killed your brother. Who is he, might I ask?”

I just laid there in tears, trying to think of an answer, when I heard another voice calling. “Wingding! Wingding, where are you!”

Another skeleton ran into view. He was slightly taller than the kid, about five foot two. He wore a colorful-striped polo shirt, tan khakis, and brown sandals. Despite being barely taller than the kid, his voice sounded much older, giving me the impression of a middle-aged man. In his hand was a large umbrella.

When he saw us, he slowed down. His eyes locked onto me. “Wingding, who is this...?”

He scoffed. “A human. She said that she killed her brother. Just like humans to kill their own family.”

The new skeleton walked up to me, then kneeled down. He took a good look at me, then smiled softly, lifting my chin. “Are you okay, young one?”

“I- I- no...” I managed to say.

“What happened. Why are you crying?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes. “I killed my brother. I didn’t mean to- I... We had this and... I was supposed to... And I couldn’t-” I sobbed.

“Who was you’re brother?” the skeleton asked.

“He was... was a b-boss monster, and he...” I couldn’t continue.

The new skeleton looked down. “A boss monster, you say? And you think you killed him? Did you know for sure, that this is what happened?”

I broke down crying again. Defeated, the skeleton just me a sad look, then sighed. “Alright child, come with me.”

“Father,” the child skeleton spoke. Wingding is what the older skeleton called him, right? This whole time he was standing there, watching us, and glaring at me. It was hard to believe that Wingding was the son of this older skeleton, when the father was only two inches taller than him. At the rate this kid was growing, he would tower over his father. I mean, monsters were weird, but this was a little hard to believe.

Wingding’s father looked over. “Yes, Wingding?”

“You aren’t really going to-”

“Yes, Wingding, WE are.”

“But a human, especially one-”

“Wingding!” the father snapped back, “This is not up for discussion!”

I looked at Wingding. It was a strange name, Wingding. Normally, I wouldn’t take it seriously, but after meeting him...

That’s when I realized something. Very few monsters realized I was a human when they first met me. Granted, I haven’t met a lot of monsters, but only a few would have known what a human looked like. But Wingding knew I was a human, and a girl at that. How did he know that?

I decided to ignore that for the time, and put my attention back to his father. “What are you going to do to me?”

He smiled. “I’m taking you to my home, so you can be safe.”

“But why, I-”

“Because you're hurt and soaked, and need time to rest and recover.” He helped me up. “I just realized that I’m being rude. I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Semi, or Semi Serif in full. And, as you might have guessed, this is my son, Wingding ‘Gaster’ Serif.”

Wingding only nodded, but he clearly wasn’t happy with the situation.

“I-it’s nice to meet you. My name... my name is Chara,” I replied.

“Chara...” Semi replied. I was worried he might recognize the name. I didn’t know what would happen then. “That’s a nice name.” He opened up his umbrella, and lifted it above us. Then he turned me around. “Our home in a valley down this way. You’ll be safe there.”

Seeing no other option, I followed along with Semi. Wingding followed behind. Semi offered him spot under the umbrella, as it was large enough for the three of us, but he declined. It seemed he really didn’t like me.

I didn’t know what was going to happen now. I could only hope that I would be alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this originated as a project I started (an Undertale Tumblr ask blog kind of like "Ask Frisk and Company") with one of my sister's friends. But nothing ever came of that project and we stopped meeting (not that we ever met in person, we were just talking on Skype). At this point, I don't anything would come of the project, but I still liked the story I came up with, so I decided to write it a fanfic story here on DeviantArt, and eventually I put it on other sites as well, like this one.
> 
> My current plan is split this into series I'm calling "Books" (Because that is a technically correct term for stories, especially since their being written in Chapters). I have three Books planned. The first is Chara's backstory, and then will end with the lead up to the second Book. The second will be the main story, the tie into Undertale's base story. And the third will be the after-story, sort of a kind-of-never-ending string of random events that will chronicle how everyone is living after the main story.
> 
> Here are Chara and Gaster's OC Profiles, if you want to see them (though these are primarily them as adults):  
> [Chara (Fallen Determination)](https://www.deviantart.com/cobalt-gemini/art/Chara-Fallen-Determination-793301592)  
> [Gaster (Fallen Determination)](https://www.deviantart.com/cobalt-gemini/art/Gaster-Fallen-Determination-850032241)


	2. Recent Memories

“Asriel, are you going to be okay?” I asked, very worried. We were in our bedroom, where I sat next to my sick brother’s bed.

He was a boss monster, the most powerful kind of monster, and yet he still wasn’t immune to getting poisoned.

For whatever reason, boss monsters were like humanoid goats, with white fur, droopy ears, small tails, and fangs. They usually also grew to be really tall, but Asriel was only twelve (which was two years older than me), just barely not old enough to get his growth spurt (currently standing at four foot eleven), or to grow his horns. He had yellow-gold eyes, and wore a green sweater with yellow stripes (similar to mine), blue short jeans. He was shoeless, like he and our parents always were.

Asriel coughed, then looked at me. “I don’t know,” he said weakly, “but... this is what we wanted to do right.”

“But I-I changed my mind,” I started crying, “I r-realized it wasn’t worth it. Why... why did you do it?”

“We could be heroes. Free the monsters from the Underground. All you have to do is take my soul.”

A human soul could persist presumably forever after death, and a monster could absorb the soul after that, becoming more powerful. But a monster soul wasn’t as powerful as a human soul, so they would shatter upon death. However, a boss monster soul could last for at least a few seconds before shattering.

With the combined power of a monster soul and a human soul, we could pass through the Barrier that kept the monsters trapped in the Underground, and with seven human souls, we could break it. That is what our plan was, one of us eats poisonous flowers, dies, and then the other absorbs their soul, and leaves to get more souls to break the Barrier.

I was the one who was supposed to eat the flowers, but... after taking some time to think, I decided that I didn’t want to lose what I already had. My new family, a happy life. Maybe it was selfish, but I loved my family, and didn’t want to lose them. But, Asriel... who was convinced we could become the heroes of the Underground... he ate them instead.

And as such, he got sick.

Asriel’s health continued to get worse. And I continued to get more and more worried about my brother. I stayed at his bedside while my parents tried their hardest to help him.

After a while, Asriel told me, “Chara, you were right...” he coughed. “I don’t want to go... but I- I don’t...”

I started crying after he said that. “I don’t want you to go either. Asriel, pl-please...”

He grabbed my arm. “Chara, we have to do this. We don’t have a choice now. We can't waste this chance.”

“Asriel, no, please...”

He closed his eyes. “I-I’m sorry, Chara.”

The next day... Asriel died.

I was next to his bed when it happened. I watched as he closed eyes for the last time, and then turn to dust right in front of me.

Only one thing remained was his soul, a white, upside-down heart, just like any other monster’s soul. I was supposed to absorb it, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it...

And then it shattered... It was too late.

Later in the day, me and my adoptive parents were in the throne room, standing in front of the throne. The two boss monsters were holding the dust of their son.

My mom, Toriel, was six feet tall with small horns and dark red eyes. She wore a long purple dress with white sleeves and the Delta Rune on the front, which was a winged circle with three triangles underneath (two on the sides pointing up, one below the middle pointing down).

My dad, Asgore, was even taller than my mom, standing at seven feet with a broad frame, with large curved horns, a golden beard, and the same yellow-gold eyes as his son’s. He was wearing his gold armor, with a purple cape and golden shoulder plates connected by the winged-circle of the Delta Rune on top, and his gold crown on his head.

In front of the throne was a single golden flower. A Buttercup, which was both my and Asriel’s favorite flower. Somehow, some of the seeds stuck to me before I fell into the Underground. Asgore was able to use them to grow these golden beauties around the house.

As monster tradition goes, funerals were held by spreading the monster’s dust over their favorite thing. In this case, a flower that Asriel and I had loved for its beauty, and symbol of hope, something from the surface.

...But it was also the same kind of flower Asriel ate to poison himself, the very ones I was supposed to eat.

“Asriel, it was too soon,” Toriel said.

“What are we going to tell the kingdom?” Asgore asked.

Me and Asriel were the hope of the Underground (even though most monsters never have even seen me). The monsters hadn’t been informed of his death yet, but it had to happen at some point.

I just stood there, staring at the flower, crying. Eventually, I couldn’t handle the guilt anymore.

“Mom, dad, I-I need to tell you something,” I said, sobbing.

“Chara?” Toriel asked, “is this about Asriel? What’s wrong?”

I nodded. “Remember when Asriel and I tried making that pie, but we mistook cups of butter with the flower, and dad got really sick...?”

I told everything. Our plan to escape the Underground and collect more souls to break the Barrier. Me changing my mind and Asriel taking up the task instead, despite my not wanting him to.

When I was done, I broke down crying. “It’s my fault. He’s dead because of me.”

Toriel was in shock, and soon knelt down and comforted me. She was quiet for a minute, until she said, “it’s not your fault Chara. You were thinking of the good of us all. These are hard choices to make, a lot of responsibility. Too much for a child. You made the right decision, not eating those flowers. I wish Asriel had seen it the same way.”

Asgore was quiet, contemplating something. Then he spoke, “maybe they were right, Toriel.”

“Asgore?”

“Our children were supposed to be the hope of the Underground, but what can they do on their own. I know they tried but... it wasn’t worth it. We need to take action ourselves, not leave it to children.”

Asgore knelt down, his hand hovering over the flower. “We need to begin gathering human souls. Once we have enough, we can break the barrier, and return to the surface.”

“And do you think the humans will take that kindly. Killing their own. We all know what happened the last time, the war. Can we really go through something like that again?!”

I got up and stepped back. “Gathering human souls? L-like mine?”

Asgore turned his attention to me. “Chara, listen-”

“No! I thought you were my family! I- I thought-” I stopped when I realized, their son died for me, because of me. I practically killed him...

I killed their only son. Why would they want someone like me as their daughter?

Without hesitation, I ran. I ran out of the throne room, from my father, one whom I had betrayed, and no longer wanted me. “CHARA!” He called out, but I didn’t look back.

I just kept running. Running out of a home that didn’t want me, running out of New Home. I kept running, not looking back.

And as I ran, I sobbed, and my thoughts just kept racing. _You killed your brother. You screwed up your one chance to have a real family. They don’t want you, a murderer. You’re horrible! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO EXIST!_

* * *

I woke up in a cold swear. The dream was so real, I thought...

Then I remembered, that all happened. It was so recent, so fresh in my mind, yet it felt so unreal...

How could I have let this happen?

“So you’re awake”, spoke a familiar voice. I looked over, finding Wingding leaning against the wall.

I remembered, Semi brought me here, to his house, and told me to rest. He lent me his guest room so I could get some sleep.

“Did you want something?” I asked the young skeleton.

“Oh, not me,” he replied, “but my father... he wishes to speak with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Chara was dreaming about her past that just happened, giving more details on what happened between her and her brother, Asriel, and why she is in the situation she is in now.
> 
> So this is different from the main story of Undertale, where Chara did poison herself (himself, themselves, depending on what gender you consider Chara to be, but I consider her to be a girl, so she will be in this story), Asriel did absorb her soul, and they did make it to the Surface, and well, if you know the story of Undertale, well you know how well that went.
> 
> But now what is going to happen now? Asgore still is going to start collecting human souls (which, by the way, I'm not fully sure I could've written that very well. I'd love to be disproven, but I'm not sure), and now Chara is in hiding. What happens next?


	3. The Talk

“What- what does Semi want to talk about, uh, Wingding, right?” I asked.

“Gaster,” he exclaimed, “I prefer to go by Gaster. Only my father calls me Wingding, and that name... it isn’t a very intimidating, now is it?”

He wasn’t wrong. Wingding, or Gaster, did seem like he’d want to seem intimidating, because he acted and WAS intimidating.

“How did you come up with that name?” I asked.

“...It was the name my mother wanted to give me,” he replied.

“Oh, is she nice?”

He glared at me. “I never knew her. She died after giving birth to me.”

“Oh... I’m sorry, didn’t mean to...” That’s when noticed he had something in his hands. It wasn't the cube this time, but a small, red notebook. A very familiar notebook...

“HEY, THAT’S MINE! Where did you get that!?” I yelled.

“Oh this, I found this in one your pockets while you were sleeping,” Gaster exclaimed. He opened up the notebook and flipped through the pages. “Doesn’t seem that anything interesting written down.”

“GIVE THAT BACK!” I got up, stormed up to Gaster, and took the notebook right out of his hands. “You can’t just search through somebody’s pockets while they’re asleep! That’s rude!”

I quickly looked through the pages of the book, trying to see if he ruined anything in there. Luckily, all the pages were fine. I then held the book to my chest before slipping it back into one of my lower cargo shorts pockets.

In the book, I had copied down some recipes I had made with Toriel when I helped her with cooking, including her famous butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It was something I treasured, and I kept it with me at all times.

I expected Wingding (sorry, Gaster) to be annoyed with me taking the book, considering the fact he didn’t seem to like me that much. But instead, he smiled, then walked towards the door. “Come, my father is waiting.”

I followed Gaster into the skeleton’s living room, where Semi was standing, staring out of a window.

* * *

The room was cozy, with a couple of gray couches, and dark blue walls. The coffee table had a couple of books stacked on it.

Semi motioned for us to sit down. Once we did, he turned around and looked at me straight in the eyes. Gaster sat on the opposite couch, continuing to smile, which was quickly becoming unnerving.

Semi spoke up. “You must have been exhausted. You’ve been asleep for a whole day.” He sighed, taking a couple of seconds to think about what to say next. “So your name is Chara. And you are a human that had a not just a monster, but a boss monster for a brother. Is that right?”

I nodded, though I wasn't sure how he knew that.

Semi sat down next to me. “I work in New Home as an assistant to the Royal Guard, helping out by getting their requests for food, cleaning out their spaces. It’s a thankless job, oftentimes, but it pays well...” He stopped himself. “Sorry, I’m getting off-topic. While I was working, I was hearing rumors about Prince Asriel and the human the royal family adopted. Those rumors... were confirmed when Asgore called for a gathering of all the citizens of the city.”

Semi took a deep breath. “Asgore confirmed that the prince had died. He wouldn’t tell us how he died, only that the funeral was held privately. He had also decreed that we are now to bring any humans that are found in the Underground, so that their souls could be collected, and then soon, we could break the barrier, and take back what we lost when the humans imprisoned us here.”

“Sounds like a declaration of war, if you ask me,” Gaster exclaimed.

“Asgore never said if that is exactly what he meant, but that’s what all monsters think is going to happen. Once we are free, we’ll fight to take back the surface and destroy humanity for what they did to us. I heard those statements all across New Home after the meeting.”

“Also,” Semi continued, “Asgore said that his adopted human child and Queen Toriel have disappeared. He never ordered a search for them to happen, much less mentioning whether or not the human child would be one of the humans to have their soul taken, so the monsters just assumed that he already had taken it.”

All I took from that was that Toriel, my mother, was also gone. What happened to her? Where did she go? Why did she leave?

...Did she even want to know where I was? If I was okay?

Semi continued to explain the events that happened in New Home. “The monsters are very worried about the disappearance of the queen. Some believe she left because she was angry or depressed about the supposed death of the human child, as well as her son. As for that child, some of the monsters are furious with the idea they might be dead, since they had so much hope riding on them. Others are fine with the idea that their Soul is the first to be taken for the destruction of the barrier.

“And as for Prince Asriel... all the monsters are mourning for him. Hope was wavering across the city, mixed with some hesitancy about whether or not Asgore’s plan would work. ...It won’t be long before the news has spread across the entire Underground.”

Semi turned back towards me. “With that said, I now have only one question. Chara, you said that you killed your brother. I know you said he was a boss monster, but... Was you’re brother Prince Asriel, Chara? And are you the missing human child?”

I just sat there, not wanting to speak.

Gaster’s smile grew a little wider. This is what he wanted to hear. He hated me, and simply wanted a reason to get rid of me.

But then Semi said, “I’m not angry with you, Chara, and I won’t hurt you, no matter what you say, I just want to know for sure.”

“Father, what do you mean by that?” Gaster replied, suddenly not so happy with the situation. “She’s clearly-”

“Wingding, quiet!” Semi snapped back. “Now, Chara, please...”

Tears welled in my eyes. “Yes, Asriel is my brother, and I- I killed him...”

I explained about are plan to break the barrier, and how I was supposed to eat poisonous flowers that would’ve killed me so Asriel could absorb my soul, and then how he ate eat them after I refused to, and was unable to take his soul when he died. I was sobbing through the whole explanation.

When I was done, Gaster stood up and angrily stared at me. “So you tricked the prince into killing himself. And they call us the ‘monsters’. We should-”

“Wingding! That is enough!” Semi snapped again. “What is with you, threatening a scared little girl!”

“But she just admitted to basically tricking and kill-”

“Sounds like it was less of a trick, and more like her brother’s foolish decision to continue along with a foolish plan. She is simply blaming herself for something that isn’t truly her fault.”

“Not directly, maybe. But she still-”

“Gaster, I believe you’ve said enough on the matter. Now, until the situation in New Home calms down a bit, and I think I can reason with the king, we will be taking care of Chara, and making sure she doesn’t get in trouble with the Royal Guard.”

I looked at Semi in shock. He was willing to take care of, instead of turning me over to my father, were I was sure he would kill me and take my soul.

Gaster, however, wasn’t so happy with this. “She openly admitted to killing Asriel, the prince of the Underground, and the hope for all monsters. She deserves to die for what she’s done.”

“Wingding-”

“And even then, if we kept her, it would practically be treason. You said that Asgore has declared that we bring all humans to him for execution. This could be our one chance at freedom, and you would betray us by hiding this human-”

“Wingding!” Semi stood up and crossed his arms. Compared to Gaster, he wasn’t very intimidating, but Semi still managed to hold the authority in the room. “Chara is innocent. She doesn’t deserve to die for what has happened. And I will not have her death on my conscience. She is staying, and that is final! Do I make myself clear?!”

Gaster closed his eyes and lowered his head. “If you won’t take her soul to Asgore...” he suddenly snapped his gaze towards me. “THEN I WILL!”

When his eyes opened, the white dots in them where replaces with blazing circles of different colors, his drooping right eye colored red, and his left one colored purple. He swiped his hand upward, and bones suddenly shot through the floor and towards me. Instinctively, I cowered in fear, unable to get away fast enough to escape the attack. And then... nothing. Nothing happened.

When I opened my eyes, and looked over to see what had happened, I found that the bones had stopped inches away from me. Beyond that, Gaster was struggling.

His white monster soul was out of his body, and was covered in a blue aura. He was hovering a foot above the ground, and was squirming like someone was holding him up tightly, against his will.

When I looked over at Semi, I quickly inched away in fear. The white dots in his eyes were gone, and his hand was raised, as if he was holding something. Then I realized that he was holding something, in a sense, that it was his magic holding Gaster up.

Semi didn’t look like a scary person, with his short height, colorful clothes and kind personality, but at this moment, with his dark eyes, grim expression, and the way he had stopped Gaster like it was nothing, he was now the most threatening person in this room.

Gaster kept struggling for the next half-minute, until suddenly he stopped, like he was giving in to the uselessness of struggling. It was also almost like he just realized something, but whatever it was, I didn’t know at the time.

At this moment, Semi lowered Gaster back to the floor. Once his magic had been released, Semi told Gaster, “You will go to your room and not leave for the rest of the day. You will not get any dinner tonight. You will think about what you have done.”

Without another word, Gaster left for his room. The bones in front of me disappeared.

Once he was gone, Semi turned back to me. The dots in his returned, and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry you had to see that, Chara. Gaster is... complicated.”

After taking deep breathes, I replied, “he hates me, I know it. He wants me to die.”

Semi sat back and wrapped his arm around me, trying to comfort me. “I wish I could say differently, but yes. Wingding hates all of humanity, not just because of the war between them and us monsters, but because of what he’s read.”

Semi leaned over and picked up one of the books that was on the coffee table. “Wingding finds these books in the dump where the human’s junk fall into the Underground. He’s used magic to restore them, and read them cover to cover, in order to get an idea of what the surface is like now. I don’t know what he’s read in them, but it’s given him a bad opinion on humans.”

The book Semi was holding was labeled “American History”. I guess Gaster knew a lot about the war and slavery and whatever else humans have done. Once you know about that stuff, you wouldn’t think humanity was that great at all, now would you.

“Wingding is going to have to get used to you though. At least until I can talk to the king.”

I was quiet for a moment, then decided, “No. I-I... I don’t want to go back there. I ruined my family, my one chance to be happy. I... I-”

Semi pulled me into a hug. “It will be okay, Chara.” He helped me off the couch. “How about, for now, we make some dinner. I know how to make some really good ravioli.”

I thought about it for a second, then quietly said, “okay,” and joined Semi for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now, we know for sure Chara has someplace to stay safe from Asgore, and that young Gaster (or Wingding) is a prick who dislikes humans.
> 
> Some point later, I decided to come back and make a small edit, because I felt like I wanted to describe the Soul Modes differently than how is shown in the game (which also ended up being a fix to a grammar error I apparently missed).


	4. First Lessons

The next week was uneventful. The morning after Asgore’s announcement, the king declared the day after would start a week for mourning for Asriel. No school, no work, no open shops. The day before was used so monsters could still get food and other necessities for the coming week.

Since I didn’t have anything else to do, mourn is what I did, as well as reflect on what had happened. The more I did that, the more I began to hate Asgore. How could he really just cast me aside like that?

Semi spent all of his free time over the week on me, making sure that I was okay, despite what had happened. That and something I asked him for. I wanted to know more about Toriel, and where she might have gone. He searched for me, all the way down to Snowdin, along with some other monsters who wanted to try to find her too, unfortunately to no avail.

I didn’t see Gaster much over the weekend. He spent most of his time in his room. The few times I did see him, over dinner and such, he did nothing but glare at me. He didn’t even say a word. I don’t know if he even cared about Asriel’s death, but I don’t think he did. I felt like that to him, it was really just a means to end, a reason I should die. I guess he hated me that much.

I still hadn’t figured out why he gave up so easily when Semi stopped him from attacking me. Obeying your father is one thing, but I swore he gave up too easily for how tough he seemed to be.

Once the week was over, Semi and Gaster had to leave return to their daily lives and activities. Semi had to work and Gaster had to go to school.

I was sitting in the living, staring out of the window. The skeleton’s house was secluded in the valley, with no other houses in sight, but it was still close to the Waterfall community. As such, I could hear the bustling sounds of monsters making their morning commute on the cliffs above.

Semi came down the stairs. He was wearing one of same colorful shirts, khakis, and sandals he’d been wearing all week (I just assumed that was his style), but now he was wearing an apron for some reason.

“Morning, Chara,” Semi greeted. He then took a closer look at me. “You don’t seem to be ready.”

“Ready for what?” I asked.

“You know, sch-” then he stopped himself. “Oh, that’s right. It would be a bad idea for you to head to school.”

“And why would that be?” Gaster came down the stairs right behind his father. “Everyone needs to learn, right?” Gaster glared at me. I got the impression that he was making this point for a couple of reasons, none involving a simple education.

“Chara, have you ever been to the monster elementary school? Or any of the schools?” Semi asked.

“No,” I replied. “I was home-schooled by Toriel. But by my experience, most monsters wouldn’t even recognize that I am human.”

“Well, even if that is true, and both the children and staff see you as any other monster, the schools are constantly visited by the Royal Guard, whether as guests, or just to check up on the school,” Semi explained, “and with humans basically public enemy one now, it won’t be long before the Guard are at least informed of what a human would look like. It’s not safe for you, Chara.”

“So you’re saying the human should stay ignorant forever then,” Gaster replied.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying...” Semi turned to me, “how old are you, Chara?”

“I’m ten,” I replied.

“Then you would be about at a... fourth-grade level, I’d assume?”

“...Um, yes, I think.”

“Then I think I know what to do for education. Gaster is twelve, and should be in sixth grade, but he loves to learn and gain more knowledge, so spends all of his free time studying. He is actually about an entire grade or two ahead, and if he keeps this up, his teachers believe that he’ll graduate potentially in four or five years, and he’d soon become a genius.”

The only thing I really took from that was that Gaster was twelve... the same age Asriel. It wasn’t something I should have been concerned about, but that thought didn’t leave my head. Gaster, on the other hand, seemed to figure out what exactly he meant.

“Father... you’re not saying I have to...” Gaster replied.

“Yes. Wingding you have enough free time on your hands. I want you to teach Chara,” Semi confirmed.

“But Father!”

“Wingding, it’s not like I am going to make you do this for the entirety of each week. Both of you will need time to relax. Even Chara needs to learn. Besides, I’ll think this might be a good way for the two of you to get to know each other better.”

“I will not help the human!”

“Wingding, please, give it a chance, at least. Not all humans could possibly be that bad.”

I looked down, feeling guilty about what I have done. I glimpsed at Gaster, wondering what he was thinking.

He glared at me, then said, “fine. Tonight, after I return home, we start your education, human.”

* * *

“You’re doing it wrong. You’re forgetting to-”

“I know! I know!” I yelled. Gaster had begun teaching the minute he returned from school. He had started with some reading and writing, but after I couldn’t get that, he tired math next. That wasn’t going well either.

“Human, if you’d just listen to me-” Gaster started, but I interrupted.

“You’re making this too hard, I don’t get it!”

There was a knock on the door. “You kids okay? Can I come in,” I heard Semi from the other side.

“Yeah,” I answered.

Semi walked into my room (which was their guest room, until they repurposed it for me), and took a look at the scene. Schoolbooks and pencils were scattered on my bed. Me and Gaster were sitting on the edge of it, Gaster reading from one of the books, and me holding a notebook.

“Is everything going okay?” Semi asked.

“She’s too stupid to get it,” Gaster replied.

“Wingding, she isn’t stupid, just give her time, she’ll get it.”

“He’s making it really hard,” I said.

“Let me see that book,” Semi said. Gaster handed him the book, and Semi studied it for a bit. “Hm, seems alright for her learning level... Chara, how did Toriel teach you?”

“She...” I had to think about it for a few seconds. “She told me to take as time as I needed. She helped me through it when I asked for it.”

“And has Gaster done any of that?”

I nodded my head.

Semi turned to Gaster. “Wingding, I think you might be a little too hard on her. Don’t force her to learn, give her time to take it in, and if she doesn’t understand something, walk her through it, slowly...”

“How is supposed to learn if she never makes any progress?” Gaster replied.

“I think you’re misunderstanding what both of you need to do,” Semi told him.

Gaster growled and said, “lesson’s over.” then he made some weird movements with his hands, and left the room.

I fell back on my bed, and rolled over onto my stomach. “I don’t know if I can go another day with him as my teacher.”

“He just needs time to get used to you, and understand what you need,” Semi replied.

“What do I do? He hates me, he'll never make it easy for me.” I started to cry.

Semi thought about that for a moment. “How about, then, you show him that you are worth his attention. If he won’t be nice to you, try being nice to him.” He got up to leave, but before he went through the door, he turned around and said, “instead of making enemies, maybe try making friends. See if that works.”

He left me alone to dwell on that. I got up and looked at the books again, then I reached into my pocket, and pulled out my recipe notebook.

I opened it up and turned to my mom’s butterscotch-cinnamon pie.

Okay then, from this moment on, I’ll do whatever it takes to befriend Gaster. I’m am determined to make him my friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now Chara is getting her education from Gaster, and she also wants to try to befriend Gaster with her cookbook she made while baking with Toriel.
> 
> It does make sense to me that, as a version of Chara that is supposed to generally nicer, she would cook with Toriel, so this version kept a record of all the recipes they baked in a small notebook. I don't intend to make a major point of the fact Chara likes to cook, but it will be the focus of the next chapter.


	5. A Pie Plan

The next day, I began work on my first plan. I asked if Semi could pick up some ingredients I needed. He was able to get them for me before Gaster came home from school. During the wait, I chose to study some of the material Gaster was trying to teach me, so I could be more ready for his next lesson.

I was able to start cooking before Gaster was supposed to be home. By the time he walked in the door, I was putting my masterpiece into the oven. Toriel usually used fire magic, but because I couldn’t use that, she showed me how to do it with an oven.

“Okay, human, it’s time for-” Gaster stopped when he saw me close the oven. “What are you doing?”

“Oh, I’m making a pie!” I replied. “It’s butterscotch-cinnamon, my mom’s best-”

“So, you can cook now?”

“Um, yeah, well... I’ve always... I’ve cooked with my mom before, and-”

“Is this supposed to impress me?”

I looked down, this was my mom’s best recipe, one of my favorites. Everyone loved her B-scotch pie. Maybe I wasn’t as good as my mom? I mean, I tried my best, right?

“Wingding, why don’t you at least try it before judging her,” Semi intervened, “Chara put a lot of work into it, and she seemed rather pleased with it.”

“Well, it isn’t done yet,” Gaster replied.

“Oh, right, I have to set a timer,” I realized.

While I quickly set the baking timer, Gaster chuckled. “Not so good now, is it?”

“Wingding... be respectful,” Semi replied. “Give it a chance.”

Gaster just gave a quick “hmph”, and sat down. The next couple of minutes was in silence, me just sitting next to the oven, while Gaster just sat and glared at me.

20 minutes remaining...  
15 minutes remaining...  
10 minutes remaining...  
5 minutes remaining...  
1 minute remaining...

The pie is ready.

After it cooled, I cut off a few slices, put them on some plates, and handed them to Semi and Gaster. “Try it.”

Semi started eating it first. He smiled with the first bite, seem to enjoy it as he scarfed it down. “Wow, this is one of the best pies I’ve ever had. Good job, Chara.”

Gaster then a piece in his mouth. I watched quietly, hoping to see some sign that he liked it.

He continued eating the pie, and when he finished, he said, “I’ll admit, it was good. You might worth something after all.”

“Wait, what do you mean by that?” I asked.

“Well, what worth are humans,” Gaster replied.

“I- I try as hard... I can- I can-”

“Can you use magic? That’s where monsters get their strength.”

Before I could respond, Semi stepped in. “Gaster! Leave her alone! What she can and can’t do has nothing to do with magic. She worked hard on this.”

Gaster put his plate down, and walked away. “Well, if all she can do is bake sweets, then what is she truly capable of?”

Gaster left, and Semi sighed. “I’ll go talk to him. Ask him to give you a chance.” Semi began heading towards Gaster’s room, but stopped to say, “it was a really good pie, Chara. Keep working on your cooking.”

I stood there, looking at my pie. Maybe I wasn’t as good as my mom. I took a bite, and yeah, it was really good, but not as good as my mom’s.

I thought back to what Gaster said about magic...

I recalled a memory... My mom’s hands over my soul, showing me how to pull it out on my own. Focusing, trying to find my inner-self, my subconsciousness, strengthen the connection of my mind and body to my soul. The feeling of finding that Spark...

I held out my hands, and focused. Suddenly, sparks burst in the air, until a red flame appeared in my hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Chara has made her pie, and... at least Gaster is impressed. Chara also seems to know some magic... hm...


	6. Sneaking into Gaster's Room

It’s been a few weeks since me and Gaster started our lessons together. Gaster hadn’t made it easier for me during my lessons, but I was starting to get a hang of his teaching methods. But I think he was starting catching on to that, and might have been planning to make it even harder for me, maybe even sneak in things that were not on my learning level.

It wasn’t impatience, no, he never got frustrated with how long it took me to figure things out. I think he just hated being forced to spend time with me, and didn’t see the point in trying to teach me.

When Gaster and Semi left for the day, I would either read or try out more recipes. Semi sometimes jokes that I might end up burning down the house, but I assure him I am very careful when I cook.

I was very reluctant to tell them about my... special abilities. For now, I felt it was best to keep that secret.

One day, I was in the living room, reading so I could stay on top of Gaster’s lessons, Gaster and Semi came down talking about something. I didn’t immediately catch on to what they were saying, but heard something about “practice”.

“Hey,” I called over, “sorry, I thought I heard something about ‘practice’?”

“Oh, Chara, good morning,” Semi replied, “yes, me and Gaster are heading over to the Clearing for his magic lessons.”

“The Clearing?”

“Yes, it’s a nearby-”

“Don’t tell her about the Clearing, father. It's not something that is important for her to know.”

“Wingding, please. It’s fine. She can know if she wants.”

“You’re going to teach Gaster magic, right?” I asked.

Gaster made some of those motions with his hand. I have yet to figure out what they meant. I asked Semi about them, and he didn’t seem to know either.

Semi dismissed this, and told me, “yes, this is for Wingding’s magic. It very important for monsters to learn their subspecies' form of magic. For us, that’s our bone magic, and a few other special, sometimes rare abilities. It’s been a while since we’ve practiced his magic, actually.”

“We haven’t done this since you-” Gaster started, but Semi interrupted him.

“Since you started staying with us,” he said. I knew what they were referring to, but for once, I was more concerned about what they were going to do. Practice magic. I considered maybe telling them my secret, but decided against it. They probably couldn't help me learn anymore, and I wasn't sure how Gaster would react.

Before I could decide whether or not I should tell them, Gaster said, “we should go. It’s about time I continue my training.” He then exited the house.

Semi sighed. “Don’t worry about him, Chara. He’s been waiting for this for a while. His dream, his ultimate goal, is to become a powerful monster wizard. Learning magic is very important to him.”

I froze for a second. “What if he wants to use that magic to hurt me? Can you stop him at that point?”

“I... I haven’t thought about that. But I can’t stop him from reaching his goal. He’s come too far to stop now. But don’t worry, I think you can befriend him before that. Try... maybe try doing something he might like to see.” Semi then left to follow Gaster.

Well, I’ve been trying to impress him this whole time, but what could I do that he would like?

I sat around for maybe half-an-hour, trying to think about what I could do. How was I even supposed to find out what he liked when he never opened up to me.

Unless...

I got up and ran to Gaster’s room. I never dared to try and sneak into his room, even though I’ve had numerous chances to try. It wasn’t something I liked doing, besides, I shared a room with Asriel before, so I wasn’t used to hiding anything.

I didn’t know how long Gaster and Semi would be gone, but considering how much Gaster seemed to want to practice magic, I figured to would be a while.

I twisted the doorknob, and slowly opened the door...

Gaster’s room was all neat and tidy (which didn’t surprise me, considering Gaster). There was a desk in the corner in front of me, a bed in the far corner, and few bookcases along the wall next to it.

I started by checking Gaster’s desk. There were a couple books on it that I knew were the books he used for my lessons, a couple of papers with notes on them (I didn’t bother checking them), and the colored cube Gaster was playing with when we first met (still didn’t know what exactly it was, but Gaster rarely brought it out, so I never got the chance to act).

I looked in his drawers, and I found more notes, a set pens and pencils, and a journal. I would’ve looked inside, but decided it was probably best not to. I could find what I needed without having to look into his past. At least, that’s what I hoped.

I moved over to the bookcase, and began looking through the books. A lot of the same that I saw an the coffee table. In fact, some of those same books had been returned to here, apparently.

I was beginning to think that I wouldn’t find anything interesting, when I saw... “Basic Sign Language”. I pulled out the book, and turned to the first few pages. It was about... talking, with hands. Making different gestures and motions to convey words and statements.

Suddenly it all made sense. All those motions Gaster made with his hands, he got it from here, a human sign language book. He was like... a man who spoke in hands.

At that moment, I decided to take the book. Hopefully Gaster wouldn’t find out I took it. If I could learn how to speak in hands myself, I could...

I left Gaster’s room, and went straight to my room, where I began studying the book and trying to memories the signs.

I spent the next couple hours doing this, until I heard a knock on my door. I quickly hid the book under my pillow, then said, “come in.”

The door opened, and Gaster stepped through. “We’re back, human. Did you enjoy your time alone.”

I nodded.

“Well, father is going to prepare dinner now. He wanted me to tell you that. Not that I think you needed to know.”

I remained quiet.

Gaster scoffed. “Well, if you’re going not to answer-”

“Gaster,” I interrupted.

“...Yes.”

I put my hand on my chin, then moved away. The sign for “Thank You”.

Gaster seemed to be taken aback by this, but he didn’t say anything. He just stepped out, and closed the door.

I smiled. I think my little surprise just gave me some progress with becoming Gaster’s friend. That was the happiest I had been in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we know more about what Gaster wants to do in his life. And know I've explained his sign language as well, which I imagine was somewhat obvious to you guys.
> 
> I'll admit, if you remember what I told you about what this originally was (back in Chapter 1's description), this isn't how I planned to explain Chara's (and Gaster's) backstory, and trying to write it out as full chapters is not easy. This is coming off has very basic information to me that I feel needs to be explained, but it's very slow. I won't say I'm a great writer, and I defiantly not a fan of slow starts. I do have all the subjects of each chapter written down, and things will start to pick up in the next three or so chapters. So hang in there, we're almost there.


	7. Magic Surge

For the next month, I secretly practiced my sign language when Gaster and Semi were not around. Eventually, I get to the point where I could understand what Gaster was saying, and well... now I knew why he always liked using sign language.

He didn’t say nice things with it (even ruder then what he says about me), and since we didn’t know what it meant, it was kept private. But now I knew what he was saying, and he knew that I knew. So, it wasn’t so private anymore. I chose to never comment on it, but it clearly frustrated him.

I would only use sign language myself when Semi wasn’t around, so he didn’t know I knew what Gaster was saying. Gaster never even once asked how I was learning his secret language, but I suspected he had an idea. He must have figured out at this point that one of his books was missing.

I was beginning to worry about this plan. Gaster seemed to be less interested in my sign language, and more annoyed and angry. I wasn’t sure if this would help me become friends with him.

Then came along that one day... Semi had just got me and Gaster some chocolate bars as a treat for us. It came as surprise to him to find out how much I loved chocolate, as he just picked them up on a whim, and had to keep me from also grabbing the second meant for Gaster.

I was heading for my room with my gift, I opened my door, and... there was Gaster.

He was sitting on my bed, reading something. When I took a closer look, I realized that it was the sign language book I stole.

“Uh, hey... Gaster, I-” I said meekly.

“You’re here,” Gaster interrupted. He closed the book and put it on my bed. “I see you found my book. I was wondering where it was. Though, of course, it does explain your... sudden knowledge of my secret language.”

“Gaster, please, I’m sorry I stole-”

“Stop. I just came here to say... that I’m impressed.”

I just stood there, confused. “What...?”

“I figured you might try to sneak into my room at some point, but I was beginning to think you didn’t have the guts.”

“I... I just-”

“I don’t know why you were in there, but you seemed to have decided to try learning my secret language. And you’ve done quite well without my assistance.”

“Um, thanks, I... wanted to impress you.”

Gaster smiled. “Well then, you have a lot to learn. However, I can’t let you simply keep the book so easily. So I have a challenge.”

“Wait, what kind of challenge?” I asked.

Gaster pulled something out of his pocket. It was his colored cube. “You want to test your hands, right? Solve this by the end of the day, and I’ll let you keep the book.”

“What... how... I don’t even know what it is.”

“You’ve seen this before, haven’t you. It’s called a Rubix Cube, according to the info I’ve found on it. It’s basically a puzzle, where you have spin the different pieces to make all sides of the cube match color.” He took the cube, and quickly scrambled all of the sides. It was so fast, I couldn’t even keep track of which parts were spun, nor in what order. He then handed the cube to me. “Now try it.”

* * *

After hours of trying to solve the cube, all I’ve done is make it worse. I was determined to finish it but I couldn’t get anywhere.

“You’re missing the trick to it, human,” Gaster said.

“I know, I know. Just please-”

“I knew you couldn’t figure it out. There’s a simple trick to it.”

I threw the cube at him. He simply dodged it. “Well, that wasn’t very nice,” he replied.

“You know what, I’m tired of how you make everything hard for me!” I yelled. “Do you know how hard I try! How hard I’ve tried being friends with you! And you just keep making it harder and harder!”

I was so angry, I didn’t realize that my hands had started flaming. I swiped my hand in front of me, and by the time I realized what I just did... a wave of fire was flying towards Gaster.

Luckily, Gaster was quick, and summoned a wall of bones, which managed to keep the flames from touching him.

“Sorry, sorry! I- I didn’t- I thought I-” I stumbled on my words as I dispelled the fire on my hands.

Gaster dispelled his own magic, and got up. “Magic.”

I stopped and stood their meekly. What was he going to think?

Gaster was quiet for a moment, then said, “how?”

“I- I- My mom... she showed me...”

Suddenly, Semi burst into the room. “What’s going on! I heard yelling and some loud sounds! Is everyone okay!”

“Yes,” Gaster responded quickly, “We’re fine. Just a small mishap.” He then grabbed his cube and the book, walked over to me, and then handed me the book. “You keep this.”

“What-” I replied.

Gaster then started leaving the room, and told Semi, “Father, tomorrow, when we go for magic training, I want the human to come with us.”

Semi looked at Gaster curiously. “Why the change of heart? I thought you didn’t want her to be a part of our magic lessons.”

Gaster simply replied, “Because I want to see more of the human’s magic,” and then he left.

Semi turned to me, confused. “What does he mean by ‘the human’s magic?’”

“I- I just want to be alone right now,” I told him.

“Oh, I... see. Alright then.” Semi then exited the room and closed the door.

I clutched Gaster’s book and sat down on the floor, trying to calm myself down from what just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, I wasn't entirely sure how to flesh this one out. This one involves a that mysterious cube form Chapter 1, which, if it wasn't already obvious, was a Rubix Cube (which my dad says that he has a whole book on solving, which... what? How?). I think I had Gaster use one because he is the "man who speaks in hands", it made sense to me that like to test... well, his hands. And so, the Rubix Cube came to mind.
> 
> But more importantly, Chara's magic has been revealed, so now it's time to see where this goes. I am bad at descriptions.


	8. The Clearing

“Again, Wingding, focus your magic.” Semi was instructing Gaster on his magic. I didn’t know what it was, but it was supposed to be very powerful. The kind of magic few could even learn how to use, much less master. For Gaster to be able to use magic like this at such age... it was incredible.

Like Gaster had promised, he and Semi brought me to the “Clearing”, which, pretty much was what it sounded like. It was a flat dirt plain, surrounded by rocks and plant life, about 100 yards in diameter. The perfect place to practice magic.

Gaster had multiple bones summoned, levitating around him. His eyes were glowing, the same red in the right and purple in the left I saw when I first joined their family. It was a little unnerving for me, to see that again.

Gaster’s breath slowed (don’t ask me how or why skeletons breathed, cause I don’t know), and he closed his eyes. I could still see the glow behind his eyes (and again, I don’t know how skeletons can move their faces like that).

Suddenly, I had a cold feeling, like my guilt was coming out. It was faint, but there was a purple aura on Gaster’s bones, as well as his hands. It lasted for almost ten seconds, then faded, along with the feeling.

“Good job, Wingding,” Semi said, “that was an excellent display.”

“What was that?” I asked. “It was... terrifying.”

“Powerful, but still unrefined magic,” Gaster replied.

“That was ‘Karmic Retribution’, Chara,” Semi told me, “it is skeleton combat magic, that takes its power from the sins of its enemies. The more guilt on their soul, the more damage it causes. And like Gaster said, his command over this magic is still unrefined, unmastered. His consumption of energy is still unbalanced, and you probably felt the excess magic... and considering... oh, I’m so sorry. I should have warned you.”

“It’s... okay, I’m just... why would monsters have magic like this. I thought they were made of kindness.”

“And who told you that?” Gaster asked.

“My... parents.” It hurt me to call Asgore my “parent”. After what he did... cast me out... just because I... I...

“Is that so. Even I can agree that monsters are misleading each other.”

“What?”

“Though I wouldn’t put it that way,” Semi replied, “Wingding is right. Monsters believe that they are made of kindness and compassion, though they are only half right. ...Tell me, Chara, what fuels magic?”

“Um, some kind of energy?” I answered.

“Well, that is partially true, your stamina, or soul-energy, more accurately, is necessary to ‘power’ magic. Without it, you would just exhaust yourself. But that is not what controls it.”

“Emotion,” Gaster said. “It is why, when you got angry yesterday, you lost control, and your magic... well.”

“What happened yesterday?” Semi asked. “Neither of you will tell me.”

“It’s not important,” Gaster answered, “what is important at this moment, is explaining to Chara the truth behind monsters.”

“Um, yes, magic is controlled through emotions. And because all of us monsters are made mostly of magic, or magic matter, to be more precise, then we really aren’t made of kindness, more like... ‘feelings.’ Sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad.”

“Think about what happens to a monster when they get depressed,” Gaster said. “They become comatose and they don’t tend to wake back up.”

“‘Fallen Down,’ right?” I replied. “That’s what it’s called.”

“Yes.”

“Now, the point here is... monsters don’t need kindness to live. That doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have it, just... think about it. We’re all trapped down here. We all have to depend on each other, so of course, everyone would be kind to each other. It’s an easy misconception.”

“Do you think that applies to all monsters?” I asked. I was referring to Asgore, and partially to Gaster, who hadn’t treated me kindly since I got here.

“I don’t know, but if you wanted a good example of monsters not surviving off of kindness, look no further than our ancestors.”

“But Semi, I thought during the war, the monsters didn’t kill anyone. I mean, they didn’t get any human souls.”

“That is debatable, but that’s not what I’m referring to. I’m talking about the ancestral skeletons. Tell me, what’s inside of you... and all humans, I assume.”

“A... skeleton... right?”

“That would be right, human,” Gaster replied. “There to support your body’s structural frame, I believe.”

“Well the first skeletons, as in monster skeletons... they were actual human skeletons. They used to be humans, but more than just that, they were powerful wizards. But they were murdered, and with their remaining magic, they were reborn as the first skeletons, referred to back under our ancestral name of... revenants.”

“So... they were made of...” I started.

“Rage,” Gaster finished, “and vengeance. And it wasn’t unjustified. This is when karmic retribution was first created, powerful magic made to bring both justice and vengeance to their killers... and to all enemies of monster kind.”

I knew Gaster was referring to me, and that idea was terrifying. He was this ‘revenant,’ and I was his enemy. If I couldn’t befriend him...

“That last bit may be a bit a stretch, but yes,” Semi explained, “soon the revenants were introduced as a member of the monster kingdom. Many became some of the first knights of the original Royal Guard. Many settled down, had children, and the monster species of ‘skeletons’ was born.”

Semi then knelt down next to me, and said, “but enough about that. I want to see this magic I keep hearing about. Gaster wanted you to come with us for a reason.”

I wasn’t sure why Gaster wanted to see my magic. I wasn’t very good at controlling it, and wasn’t very powerful, especially compared to Gaster. But I decided to oblige.

I stepped back from Semi a bit, raised my hands in front of me, and focused. Sparks flew from my hands, and then... a red fireball appeared in my hands.

“Wow,” Semi said, “I never would have imagined...”

“You remember that we are trapped down here because human wizards created the barrier,” Gaster replied. Of course, one more way to make me feel guilty.

“I’m not very good,” I said, “and I lost control yesterday, I almost-”

“I’m fine,” Gaster interrupted, “you simply lost control in your anger. I’ll admit, I’ve done that before.”

Semi sighed. “Do you want me to help you learn to control your magic, Chara?”

“Wait, what?” I replied. “How can you train me in fire magic. Do you know-”

“No, I do not know how to use fire magic. But it doesn’t matter. You already know the magic, you just need to learn how to control it.” He raised his hands and summoned two small bones, one in front of the other. He then staring spinning, one of them spinning faster than the other. “Try this.”

I looked at my fireball, and then imagined it spinning. I closed my eyes, focusing.

When I opened my eyes, my fireball was spinning around, slowly, and reshaped into sort of a galaxy kind of spiral shape.

“Good,” Semi replied. “It’ll take time to master, and you’ll have to expand on the magic itself by yourself, but I’ll help you learn to control it.”

Gaster scoffed and then got and up and began to leave.

“Wingding?” Semi called out. “Are you okay?”

Gaster didn’t answer back.

I dispelled my fireball, and sat down. I assumed Gaster just wanted to see more of my magic, and get an understanding of how I got it, not to have Semi promise to teach me.

Would Gaster ever try to warm up to me? I just wanted to be his friend. I wanted people to care about me. Why wouldn’t he open up to me?

Why did he hate me so much?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too happy with the ending, but this chapter does point out some history of the monsters, especially skeletons.
> 
> Where did the "revenant" thing come from? It actually came from a Culture Shock video release on the Game Theory channel a few years ago, theorizing that Sans may be a revenant. The revenant in this AU will not be exact to the lore described in that video (I didn't even remember all the details of the video hadn't watched that video in a while), but that is what's based on.
> 
> If you're curious, here's a link to the video (it's unlisted now, though I couldn't tell you why): [Undertale, Sans Is No Skeleton! - Culture Shock](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uBGfEOoDkM)


	9. Chara's Secret

It was a quiet day. I was practicing more sign language in the living room. Since Gaster found out I took his book and just gave it to me, I’ve been less concerned about Semi see me practice.

“Hey, Chara,” Semi asked, walking into the room, “do you know where Wingding is?”

“I... no.” I hadn’t seen Gaster since I got up. Now that I think about it, it was strange. He didn’t have school today, and unless he went with Semi to the Clearing, he would usually stay at home. Then again...

It’s been a few weeks since Semi started teaching me how to control my magic, and giving me ideas on how to expand on it, and since then, Gaster had become increasingly distant from us.

“Hm...” Semi thought. “Maybe he’s at the piano...”

I perked up. “Piano? There’s a piano?”

“Yes, Gaster occasionally drops by it on the way home from school. Though it’s close to the Waterfall community, so it’s too dangerous for you-”

“Where is it?” I interrupted.

“Well, remember where we first found you?”

I shrunk down from that. It wasn’t a good memory.

“Sorry, I didn’t...” Semi sighed, “if you continue past that point, and take a right, there is an old piano. It’s been there for a while, and the public likes to go there from time to time to try to play it. Why?”

“I... I like the piano... ...If Gaster is there, I’ll go find him. I just want to...”

“Chara it’s close to... well." Semi sighed. "I suppose it isn’t too close. And it is hard to not know if monsters are there, if they’re playing... Okay, just... be careful Chara. And remember to take an umbrella.”

* * *

I was moving at a quick pace (not too fast, as I didn’t want to get wet from the rain). It’s been so long since I’ve played the piano. It was one of my favorite things to do, and I have begun to worry I’d never be able to do it again.

As I approached, I could hear the far off sound of the piano. Now out of the rain, I slowed down, lowered my umbrella, and peaked around the corner. The sound of the piano got louder, and I could see someone around the corner. Careful not to make a sound, I slowly approached, making sure that it wasn’t any random monster.

Luckily it was just Gaster. He was playing a dark, yet simple tune. I become less tense, and returned to a brisk walk. “Hey Gaster, Semi was looking for you.”

Gaster stopped playing, and turned his head towards me. As I approached, I noticed something odd. He hadn’t moved his body, and yet his hands were on his lap. So how was he playing the piano?

I found the answer as I approached. There a hovering skeleton hand, detached from Gaster’s body. That must have been what was playing the piano, while both of his normal hands were on his lap.

“Hey, Gaster, what is that?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s exactly just what you think,” he replied. “I’m playing the piano.”

“But that... uh-”

“Oh, this hand... just some simple magic bone construction, made out in the shape of a skeleton hand. With some creative changes.”

“What do you mean, 'creative changes'?”

“The palm. Normally, there a series of bones, extended from your individual fingers. But this, like the skeleton monsters, is more... solid.”

He raised the magic hand, and I could see that the palm was a single wide bone with a circular hole in it, like what I’ve seen with all skeletons. I didn’t know normal human skeletons were slightly different. Was it like that for the original revenants?

“So, why are you here, human?” Gaster asked.

“I... Semi wanted to know where you-” I started, but Gaster interrupted.

“Oh, that’s not really it, is it?”

I crossed my fingers together. “I... heard there was a piano, and I... like the piano. I... kind of wanted to play it... and...”

“So, you like the piano, huh... So, human, would like to see another trick I’ve been developing.”

The hand suddenly opened up, and something appeared in it. A short bone, acting as a handle, with a glowing, light-blue triangular slate fused on the end. It took the shape of a simple kitchen knife.

The hand, holding the knife, shot forward, and stopped with the blade tip an inch from my chest.

“I’ve watched you, and I’ve noticed something. Whenever you cooking up your little desserts, you seem to be nervous using the knives. I guess, this is your one weakness.”

I became as still as a tree. My hands were shaking. I tried to scream, but couldn’t.

“I just don’t understand. Why does my father care so much about you? Does he even know anything about you?”

I couldn’t speak. Tears swelled in my eyes.

“Too scared to speak. Don’t worry, I know the answer. No, he knows nothing of you. And yet, even after you admit to killing your own brother, he lets you live with us, protects you, cares for you.” He started walking in a circle around me. “YOU! You’ve done nothing since you got here, but bake treats, learn pointless things, and take my books. And now, my father wants to teach you magic. When you will never have any use for it. You’re a WASTE! YOU’RE NOTHING!”

He stopped at my side. “Why... why are you trying to impress me? Trying to make me your friend? I don’t care for you. I work hard, so that one day, I can become powerful. So I can destroy your kind. You want to be friends with me?” He walked up to me and said in my ear, “you just want someone to love you. That’s all. And what will that do for you? Nothing. It will not save you.”

My hand started closing into a fist. “You know...” I managed, “you don’t know... a-anything about m-me either... What I’ve g-gone through... Why I just want someone... t-to be my family... Why I feel guilty about my brother.”

Gaster’s stepped back. His magic hand flew back about five inches. The knife was still pointed at me, but I felt at least a little more comfortable. “I’m listening,” Gaster replied.

I gave out a shaky breath. “No... let me show you.” I grabbed the bottom of my sweater, and started pulling it up.

“Human, even I know that this is indecent for a young lady-” Gaster was starting to raise his hands to block his view, but he stopped when he saw what was my body.

Bruises, cuts, even burned, covering my back and arms. I kept my upper chest covered for that decency Gaster wanted, but wanted him to see my dark secret.

“Wh-what is this-” Gaster stumbled on his words, which was weird to hear. “Why...? Who-”

“My father. My own father did this to me!”

“You mean you’re biological one, right? Not Asgore.”

“No, not even Asgore is that bad. My father beat, cut, whipped, and burned me, all because I wanted a break, to play for a while. I know we have to work hard sometimes, but all he wanted to do was study, train. I never had fun, never made friends. I couldn't take it. So he beat me, told me the pain would teach me, make me stronger. And my mom, she just watched. Looked at me with disapproval."

“So I ran away. And on the street, no one bothered to help me. No one even batted an eye. Then I decided to leave society, tried to live in the wild. I climbed Mount Ebott. And then I took shelter in a cave, and... I fell into a hole. I broke my leg, I couldn’t move. I thought I was going to die."

“Then Asriel found me. He brought me to Toriel and Asgore. And they... they loved, cared for me. I- I never had anything like that on the surface. The monsters... they cared for me more than any human, even more than my real family did. And then I...”

I broke down crying. “I screwed everything up. My new brother died because of me, my adoptive father betrayed me, and...” I sniffed, “my mom just disappeared.”

I looked at Gaster. “I just wanted a family that cared about me. Is that too much to ask?”

Gaster didn’t say anything. He just stared. But after about thirty, maybe forty seconds... I heard a clattering sound on the ground. When I looked over, I found bones on the ground. The different segments making up Gaster’s magic hand, and the bone knife that was in its hand. I watched as the glowing blade of the knife faded away, and the whole pile of bones disappeared, Gaster’s magic dispelling. When looked back towards Gaster, he was gone.

I got up, put my sweater back on, and walked to the piano. I still wanted to play, and right now, I needed something to take my mind off of what happened.

I sat down on the bench, and rested my fingers on the keys. “You used to love to hear me play, right Asriel?” I knew I was talking to myself, but I wanted to believe I was talking to him. “Do you want me to play our favorite song? I... I’ll keep practicing.”

I started playing, simple, soft medley, a theme bringing back memories of the good times. I was a little rusty, but I quickly picked back up to my old skill. As I kept playing, I started crying.

I missed Asriel so much.

* * *

What Chara didn’t know was that Gaster was still there, just behind the corner, listening. Gaster heard what Chara said before she started playing, and then the simple, beautiful melody.

He soon left, walking away until he was in the rain. And then he kept walking still. He skipped the path to his house, and soon after, slipped down a hidden path, leading into a small crevice. An area many monsters visited, trash piled up on the walls.

The Garbage Dump. The place where all of the human’s trash fell into the Underground from the surface.

Gaster walked down into the water, and then he began picking through the piles, pulling out different items, looking them over. But everything he found, it wasn’t what he was looking for. He was even sure what he was looking for.

Eventually, he got frustrated, lowered his head, and smashed his fist into the water and then into the ground below. As he did, the ground and walls cracked open, as numerous bones burst out in all directions. And then he screamed.

Because of the disturbance made from the sudden magic attack, something fell from the top of one of the piles, and tumbled into the water. This caught Gaster’s attention. He quickly dashed over, and pulled the item from out of the water.

He checked over the box, and opened it up. Despite the damage to the box, and being completely soaked, and sound played from the box. Broken, but still working, playing along as best it could, despite everything.

Such Determination, even for a broken box, to keep playing, even after losing so much. ...Just like the human... like... Chara.

Gaster closed the box, and held it close to him. He looked up at his bones, and the cracked ground from the force of his attack... and got an idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first of all, I just want to mention that yes, I went from first-person to third-person. I’ve been wanting to do this for a while, when reading in Chara’s perspective, it’s in first-person (playing up the Narrator Chara theory), while in everybody else’s perspective, it’s in third-person. I just haven’t had the chance to really change perspective from Chara, and unless I reconsider how I tell the story (which I might), it won’t happen again for a long time.
> 
> Also, when I was describing the box (which, if it wasn’t obvious, it is a music box), it only came to me while writing this description that it was like the box was determined to play, despite its damages. I thought that could play well into this part of the story, for Chara specifically.
> 
> As for the story itself, yeah, things have gotten a little darker. We now know Chara was abused on the surface. This is why she left for Mount Ebott, and why she hates humanity. It also seems to Gaster has been affected by this revelation, too. What will happen next?  
> Well, this is only the first part of a two-parter.
> 
> If you want to know what Gaster and Chara were playing, Gaster was playing, of course, Gaster’s Theme (or Dark, Darker, Yet Darker, but that isn’t the official name), and Chara was playing His Theme, what she will later refer to as “Memory”, as on the Undertale OST, Memory is actually the music box version of His Theme. Here are links to piano renditions of these themes that I like:  
> "Sign Language" by DM DOKURO: [Sign Language](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsJdj92ZlXo)  
> "His Theme / Undertale" by Navarone Boo: [His Theme / Undertale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppRrAS8KCwk)


	10. Gaster's Secret

Three days... it’s been three days. Since Gaster attacked me, and since he left. We haven’t since him since.

Semi was extremely worried. He had heard some monsters had seen a skeleton matching Gaster’s description, but he was never there when he searched.

I didn’t dare tell him Gaster had attacked me. That was the last thing he needed to know right now. But I did tell him that I showed Gaster my secret, and then told him that about secret, about my scars. He didn’t ask anything more after that.

I spent the time trying to solve Gaster’s Rubix Cube. It was just on the coffee table, and I thought, maybe, I could try to solve it until he came back.

After a while, I put down the cube, taking a break from it, and went to the kitchen to get a drink. At that moment, Semi walked back inside.

“Didn’t find him, again.” He turned to me. “How was your day?”

“I- I’m sure he’s alright,” I said. “He’s strong, right? A powerful monster wizard? He’s...”

“I know you're trying to make me feel better, but please... I just need to... keep a clear mind.”

I quieted down, as I poured myself a glass of milk. “Want some?”

“Sure.”

I was grabbing a glass for Semi, when there was a knock at the front door.

“What... we rarely get visitors down here,” Semi said. He went to the front door, while I poured him a glass of milk, when he yelled, “Wingding!”

I quickly put the milk jug down, and ran to the door, to see Gaster, soaking wet, his clothes muddied and dirty.

“G-Gaster, you’re back!” I pushed past Semi, and pulled Gaster into a hug. “Where were you!?”

Semi, who was apparently in shock, shook his head, and joined into the now group hug.

“Wingding,” Semi spoke up, “We were so worried.”

“I’m sorry,” Gaster replied, “but I had to do something important... for... Chara.”

I was shocked. This was the first time he referred to me by my name. “Do what for me?”

“Please, come.”

Semi and I looked at each other. Neither of us knew what to make of this.

“I-I- Okay,” I said.

Gaster nodded, then quickly slipped inside and grabbed an umbrella, Semi’s large one. Then we followed him.

* * *

He took us back down the rain path, right to the end where me and Gaster first met. Then he took us a few steps beyond that, where...

"Asriel..." I said, tears in my eyes.

A stone statue, made the likeness of... the fallen prince. My brother.

"You did this, Gaster?" Semi asked, amazed.

"Yes," he replied. "I've never met the prince, so I only had artist's interpretations to go off of, but I used all my magic, every magic bone I've ever constructed, to carve this statue."

"...You made this for me?" I asked Gaster.

"Yes..." he replied. "But that's not all. I heard you play, Chara. And after listening to you, I added something special."

Gaster leaned down, where a box was slotted into the lap of the statue. He opened it up, and a simple tune started playing.

"A music box. Where did you find this?" Semi asked.

"In the dump, I fixed it up, and made a new song for it to play," Gaster replied.

"Memory," I said. "Asriel loved this song. This was his favorite theme. My favorite to play..." I turned to Gaster, and pulled him into another hug, this one tighter then the last. "THANK YOU!"

"You're welcome..." I stopped hugging him, and he turned to his father. "Father, may I speak to Chara alone for a bit."

Semi sighed. "Yes. But Gaster, you come straight home after this. As impressive as this is, you did disappear for about three days. And you need to accept the consequences for that."

"I understand." Semi left, and then Gaster sat down next to the statue, and padded the ground next to him, signaling me to sit down next to me. I did so, and to start, he said, "I want to apologize."

I lowered my head after hearing that.

"I didn't realize that you went through so much pain... at the hands of humanity. I knew humans hurt each other, but to this extent... I... just can't believe it."

Gaster looked at the ceiling. "You ever notice the shining rocks above Waterfall?"

"Yeah," I replied. "They're like stars, right?"

"Do you miss the real ones? What are they like?"

"They're... it's like looking out into space, well it is, and you can see... glimmers of what's out there. And it makes you wonder... just how much is there to see? How much bigger is the world out there?"

"Beyond the not just the Underground, but the whole world. Maybe... maybe that is something I could look forward to. Seeing the true extent of what there is to see. It makes me feel determined." Gaster turned his head back to me. "That's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Space?"

"Determination. You know... monsters don't have a lot of it. We manage without it, but we are born with very little of it. With a few, rare exceptions. ...Like me."

"You?"

"Yes, like you, my primary soul trait is determination. With preservation equal to that."

"Wait, I know about the soul traits, and your primary trait, and stuff like that, but you have TWO primary traits?"

"Chara, look at my eyes, and don't be scared." Gaster eyes then changed into the right-red and left-purple I saw months ago. "This is special magic for skeletons. It's called soul vision. It allows us to see not just another's soul, but the aspects of it. Certain levels, that tell us who you are, and what you've done. But more important to this conversation, when it's active, others can see the color of our traits in our eyes. Those don't even show on our monster souls."

"So, purple... for preservation, and red... for determination." I pulled out my own soul, a crimson red heart.

"And, do you know why, Chara... why my red eye is drooping?"

I shook my head nervously.

"Determination is powerful when it comes to magic. I can use it to fuel my spells. It's why I advanced so far in my training. It is a gift. But it is also a curse." Gaster started unbuttoning his shirt, and when he opened it up... I saw that some of the ribs of his skeleton body were melted into each other. It wasn't a horrifying as the scars on my body, but I was human. As a monster, made of magic...

"A monster's body is not made to handle large amounts of determination, not without a stronger soul to support it. So if my determination gets too high... It happened... once... and this is what happened to my body.

"My left eye drooped down, my ribs melted into each other, and I lost my right big toe." I snickered at that, but quickly regained my composer. This was too serious of a moment to find funny. "Too much determination, apparently, overwhelms the magical bodies of monsters... and we melt. And if we melt enough... to put it simply.

"It's the end of us."

Now it made sense, all that time ago, when Gaster attacked me and Semi stopped him. He struggled, and then suddenly stopped. So easily, too easily. But now, I knew, that he had to do it. It wasn't like a determined person to just give up, but he had no choice... or he would die.

"I'm still trying to learn how to control it, to find the balance between effectively using my gift, and keep my curse from killing me."

"Gaster, I'm so sorry. I didn't-"

"Now we both know each other's secrets, we both know about each other's scars. ...We're even."

"Gaster-"

"I'm sorry."

"...You've already said-"

"About not believing in you. For not being kind to you. For not being there... when you needed it most... For not being a friend."

He lifted his hand towards me. "Would you accept my apology?"

I smiled, tears in my eyes, and said, "yes. Yes, I will Gaster."

"Please, call me Wingding," he told me.

"Okay," I replied, and then I shook his hand in acceptance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some big character moments for Gaster and Chara. Finally, I've waiting to get to this moment. I also explained the statue that plays the music box version of His Theme (or Memory, as explained the description of the last chapter). Now that Gaster and Chara are friends, it's time to move on with the story.
> 
> This is what I would call the end of Act 1 for the first book. Acts 2 and 3 (especially Act 2) are going through numerous time skips, yearlong time skips, both between the Acts, and occasionally during the middle of them. Also, in Chapter 11, I intend to introduce some more characters, to liven up the story. So look forward to that.


	11. New Friends

It’s been over two years since I arrived at Gaster (sorry, Wingding) and Semi’s home as their... at this point, I guess, as their permanent guest. Less than that since me and Wingding finally became friends. I’m now twelve years old, and Wingding is fourteen.

In those years, I have gotten a new outfit, though similar to my old one. I now preferred a green jacket over a white shirt, with brown cargo pants, not shorts, and new brown boots, with a fuzzy white top hem, and white puffs on the shoelace ends. It was a little girly, but I liked them, and it got chilly in Waterfall.

Wingding finally figured out how to teach me best, giving me time to figure things out, and explaining things that I don’t understand in the simplest way possible. He also fully integrated sign language as one of my lessons, and for about a year now, has taken over my magic training.

And, every one to two weeks, I head over to the piano to practice. It used to be both me and Gaster, but I’ve become more confident in heading over by myself, knowing how to watch out for monsters. Semi also got me a music book full of songs the monsters wrote, so I can practice.

Today was one of these days. It was just me, book in one hand, umbrella in the other.

I was just turning the corner to the piano room (if you can call it that), and then I saw them.

Two monsters, a skeleton in a pink flowery dress, and a pink ghost monster (they look like bedsheet ghosts). They weren’t playing the piano, but rather, they were just talking.

Here of all places, now. This better not become a regular spot for them, because then I would lose my chance to play the piano, one of my favorite things to do.

Well, they haven’t noticed me yet. So I’ll just turn around, and...

My foot hit a small rock, and I could hear it tapping the ground as it bounced away from me.

 _Shoot,_ I thought. _Well, maybe they didn’t hear that._

“Is someone there?” one of the monsters called out.

_Of course they heard it._

Without another thought, I took off running, hoping to get away before they realized who I was. But very quickly, a blur of pink appeared in front of me, causing me to fall back onto the ground.

It was the ghost. How fast was she? (If it was a she. Monsters could be weird, and it was sometimes hard to tell.)

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you,” the ghost said. (Okay, it sounded like a she, so I figured it was a she.)

The skeleton girl (again, I assumed she was a girl) rounded the corner. “Hapi, what did you do?”

“I accidentally scared her,” the ghost, who I assumed was Hapi.

I quickly got. “Whatever your planning to do with me, just know that I have magic, and I’m really good with it,” I told them.

“Um... yes. We all have magic. I mean, we’re monsters, right?” Hapi replied.

“Paranoid, isn’t she?” the skeleton replied. (Also sounded like a girl. Okay, so she was probably a girl monster.)

 _Monsters... of course, they think I’m a monster, just like them. Okay, now I just need to get away from them,_ I thought. Then I replied, “yeah, monsters. We’re all monsters. Now, I have to go.”

“Wait, wait, wait, no need to be shy, darling” Hapi said, getting in my way again. “We won’t bite.”

_Yeah, until you figure out I’m not a monster._

“Hey, Hapi, look,” The skeleton pointed at the book in my arm.

“Piano?” Hapi replied. “You play the piano?”

“Uh, yeah, now can I go?” I told them.

“Oh, don’t be rude. Come, play something for us,” the skeleton said.

Persistent, aren’t they? I sighed. “Fine.”

“YAY!” they both screamed.

“By, the way, we haven’t introduced ourselves. The small skeleton there is Pristina,” the ghost told me.

 _Small,_ I thought. Looking closer, Pristina was on the smaller side of skeletons, like Semi, and unlike Wingding.

“And I... I am the fabulous ghost, Hapstablook, but you can call me Hapi,” Hapi continued, “so, what’s your name?”

“And what kind of monster are you?” Pristina added. “I’ve never seen a monster like you before.”

 _This is a bad idea._ “Um, I’m... Chara, and I am... uh... a... homo-sapien!” I told them.

“Homo-sapien?” Pristina put her finger to her chin. “never heard of them. Have you, Hapi?”

“Nope,” Hapi replied.

Oh, thank goodness, they bought it. “Um, yeah, we’re kind of rare.”

“Since always, or since the-” Pristina started.

“Oh, don’t bother her with that!” Hapi interrupted, “Now come on, let’s play the piano!”

* * *

Gaster was visiting the snail farm owned by Waterfall’s resident ghost family. Napstablook, a ghost monster resembling a white sheet with eyes, was just bringing his order.

Gaster had a new look, too. He now wore a white tank top with a black and grey scarf, black jeans, and black sneakers. Semi said it was part of his “rebellious teen phase”, he thought it just looked good for casual wear. At least the jeans weren’t torn.

“Thank you, Napstablook,” he said.

“oh, it’s fine...” Napstablook replied.

“You know, it’s interesting,” Gaster told Napstablook. “i don't come to see your family often enough, i really should come by more.”

“why are we so interesting...?”

“Oh, it’s because... well, according to my dad, my mom was a ghost. He must have met her here. Did you who I might be talking about?”

“no... but, i think your name does make sense...”

“My name?”

“gaster... it’s kind of like... ghastly...”

 _I suppose, it might have some truth to it,_ Gaster thought, _but father called me Wingding, my font, in accordance with skeleton tradition._

“I don’t know, that sounds more like a pun my friend would make,” Gaster told Napstablook. Since they became friends, Chara had lightened up, and... increased her pun count. It was very annoying, but Gaster tolerated it.

“you’re friend...?”

“Yes. Actually, these are for her. She wanted to try out a new recipe, and I heard that on the surface, escargot is considered a delicacy.”

“oh... you have a friend? does she go to school?”

“No, actually, I home school her. It’s... well, it’s personal. She-” Gaster stopped when he heard some voices in the distance... one sounding very much like Chara’s.

“oh, it sounds like my cousin is back... with her friends...”

“I have to go, Napstablook. Goodbye,” Gaster said quickly, before running off.

“oh, okay... see you later... maybe...” Napstablook called back.

Gaster ran over to the ghost family’s houses, both of them slanted to the side, away from each other, the left one was blue, and the right one was pink. The front door on the pink house just closed.

Gaster ran up, and knocked heavily on the door, then shook his hand, because he knocked a bit too hard.

The door quickly opened up. “Yes, yes, what is it?” asked the pink ghost that opened the door. “No one ever comes for me this quickly. Would you happen to be a fan?”

“What, no,” Gaster replied, “I’m looking for someone.”

“Well, it’s just me and two of my friends. Looking for one of them?”

Suddenly, someone peeked over, and then walked to the door. It was Chara. “Hey, Wingding!” She pulled him into a hug. “Thought I heard your voice!”

“Yes, Chara... what are you doing!? Are you okay?” Gaster replied.

“Oh, I’m fine! Just hanging out with my new friends.”

“New... friends?”

“Yeah. I was a little, um... shy around them it first.” Gaster knew what she meant. She was scared. Scared she just got caught. He knew it wasn’t a good idea for her to go out alone. “But they just wanted a pianist,” Chara continued, “and after a while, I just... warmed up to them.”

“And this was how long ago?” Gaster asked.

“Um, I think about an hour or two ago.”

Another figure popped up. “Oh, hey Gaster! You’re friends with Chara?”

“Well, yes,” Gaster replied.

“I actually live with Gaster, because... uh, I’ve had some issues with my family a while back,” Chara said. “He helps home school me, helps me with my magic. He’s like a brother to me!”

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” the pink ghost said. “By the way, I am Hapstablook, but you can call me Hapi, and you already seem to know Pristina.”

“Yes,” Gaster replied, “we happen to be in the same class.”

“Wow, small world, huh,” Chara said.

“Yeah. Um, hey, Chara, you just called him ‘Wingding’. I thought he was Gaster.”

“Wingding is my actual name, but I prefer Gaster. I only allow close friends and family to call me by my real name.” For some intimidation, he activated his soul vision. “So don’t you two start calling me that at school, understood.”

“Uh, Gaster, you’re so uptight,” Chara said.

“Wait, aren’t WE close friends, WINGDING,” Pristina replied, not at all intimidated. She was an odd one, always staring at Gaster during school, sitting by him in class or at lunch.

“We, are classmates, no more than that,” Gaster replied, deactivating his soul vision, since it wasn’t working.

“Okay then ...Gaster,” she replied, disappointed.

“Chara, what am I going to have to tell my father?”

“Um, that I made some good friends.” Chara put a little emphasis on the word “Good”, so it was obvious what she meant. “And that I want to hang out with them for a few hours.”

“Well, fine then. Just, be back before bedtime,” Gaster replied. “Oh, and I got some new ingredients for you to experiment with, Chara.”

“Ingredients? You cook too, Chara?” Hapi replied.

“Yeah. Maybe I can cook for you some time,” Chara said. “What did you get me?”

“Snails. Now, before you-”

“Ooh, great! It’s been so long since I’ve had snail pie! It sounds like a great idea to make it!” Chara interrupted. “Okay, I’ll be back in a few hours, Gaster!”

“Goodbye, mister ‘Gaster’,” Hapi replied.

“See you later!” Pristina called.

“Um... bye,” Gaster replied, and then the door closed.

Gaster turned around. “Snail pie... that’s a new one.”

He started walking back, with only a single thought in his head, _I hope you know what you’re doing, Chara._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, I can introduce these new characters. It's just been Chara and Gaster for long, Chara trying to become friends with him, learning about him, that I badly wanted to finish that and start the next "Act". Pristina will be more important later in the book, but not too important. Hapstablook, well, if you know you're Undertale, you know who she is. If not, then I'll keep that a secret for now, so you can be surprised later.
> 
> Also, I didn't originally plan it, but I was able to add another section in Gaster's point of view, much earlier then I intended. And I was happy about that.


	12. Echo Flowers

“Chara, are you sure this is a good idea?” Semi asked. “Befriending some monsters, when you are-”

“They don’t know I’m a human,” I interrupted. “They think I’m a monster, just like them.”

“What KIND of monster?”

“Homo-sapien.”

“...What’s a homo-sapien?”

“It’s the scientific term for 'human', but as you’ve just proven with your question, it’s not common knowledge in the Underground. It’s a good mask to hide under, without needing to lie.”

I had just gotten back from hanging out with Hapi and Pristina, and Semi was a little upset after Gaster had told him what I was doing.

“I just... I’m worried that this will go wrong,” Semi said. “They might take you to the royal guard for a simple chat without asking you, or figure something is strange about you, or-”

“Semi, I know you’re worried. I was too when they caught me. But, I’ve been down here for two years, heck, I’ve been in the Underground for four. And the only monsters I’ve ever really met are you two and the Dreemurrs... I...”

“Sorry, I didn’t think they would be brought up, Chara,” Semi apologized. “But I see your point. You can’t just be cooped up in here all your life.”

“Maybe we can get to the point where we can tell them the truth,” Gaster replied. “It won’t be a quick process, but if we build their trust, and we find that they’ll keep our secret, then we can tell them Chara is human.”

“They go to your school, right Wingding?” I asked. “Pristina is even in your class, correct?”

“Well I’m beyond their grade level, but I do have to take the homeroom class for my age, so yes, Pristina is in my class. I will be sure to speak to them at school tomorrow.”

“Chara, do you have any more plans with them?” Semi asked.

“Yes, tomorrow, after they get off from school. They want to show me something,” I replied.

* * *

“I can’t believe you’ve never seen the echo flowers,” Hapi said.

“Well, I think I’ve seen a few when I first came to Waterfall, but after that... well, no. There aren’t very many where I live in the area,” I told them.

“Girl, you need to get out more,” Pristina replied.

They brought me to a field full of tall, blue flowers. The Echo Flowers.

“Wow, they’re beautiful,” I said in awe.

“A perk of living in Waterfall,” Pristina replied.

“And that’s not the best part of these,” Hapi said. She flew up to one of them, and whispered something into it. “Come, listen to this.”

I walked up to the flower, and put my ear close to it, where I heard, “I have the best and most fabulous friends ever.”

“Whoa! Is that you’re voice?” I asked.

“Yep! This is what makes echo flowers so special. They will repeat anything you say to them,” Hapi replied.

“Like an echo!” Pristina added in.

“Of course!”

“Wow, that’s so cool,” I said. “Now I can see why Wingding thinks their annoying.”

“Wing- er, Gaster doesn’t like them?” Pristina asked.

“Nope.”

“I think I might now know why there aren’t any around where you live,” Hapi said, “your friend probably thinks they’re weeds.”

“By the way, Gaster home schools you, right? Why don’t go to school like us?” Pristina asked.

 _Dang it,_ I thought. _Okay, what’s a good lie... a good lie..._ “Um, well, my family doesn’t want me to be seen in public spaces. They’re paranoid that I’ll get hurt or something.” _Okay, good, and it’s not too far from the truth. Let’s add to it, so Semi knows I’ll be safe._ “They especially don’t want me near the Royal Guard. They say they’re too violent or something.”

“Okay... your family is weird.”

“I mean, they might not be wrong about the royal guard,” Hapi replied, “one of my cousins, Madstablook, had trouble with them in the past, for no real reason. What I want to know is... aren’t you living with Gaster’s family now?”

“Um, Semi, Wingding’s father, doesn’t want to get in trouble with my family,” I replied.

“Oh, very well then.”

“Actually, Gaster talked with us about you this morning, during school,” Pristina said, “he said that you’re special, and we should be careful with you. He must care about you a lot.”

She sounded a little disappointed about that. But I couldn’t see why.

“So, what ‘issues’ did you have with your family that caused you to go and live with Gaster?” Hapi asked.

“Well... to be honest, I made it sound like it’s not too big of a deal, but really... my brother... he died, and then my dad... he... he just...” I sat down, and started to cry.

“I guess it’s too sensitive to talk about. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Pristina sat next to me, and put her arm around me. “Hey, it’s okay, we’re here for you.”

I wiped my eyes, and said, “Thank you. You know, my brother and I... we loved flowers. He would have loved to see these.”

“Hm, what was his favorite flower?” Pristina asked.

“Buttercups. They’re my favorite too, but... I’m not sure if I should like them...”

“Why?”

In response, I just shook my head.

“Buttercups... those are from the surface, right?” Hapi replied. “I heard that the king likes growing them. He even has an entire garden of them.”

“Yeah, there are a lot of buttercups around New Home.”

“So is that where you’re from? New Home?”

“...Close to it.”

“Say, Chara, I have to ask, how old are you?” Pristina asked.

“Oh, I’m twelve,” I replied.

“So you’re younger than us, huh,” Hapi said, “Pristina and I are fourteen. Though, my cousin is your age.”

“Madstablook?”

“Oh, no, darling, ...I have a lot of cousins. I’m talking about Hapstablook. He’s shy, but he’s got a knack for music mixing.”

“Oh cool,” I got up. “Thank you for showing me these flowers. I love them. I’d like to come here again sometime.”

“Hey, Chara,” Pristina got up, and pulled something from one of the flowers. “I know Gaster doesn’t like them, but maybe grow a small one in your room.” She gave me a seed she got from the flower.

“Thanks.”

* * *

“So, how did it go?” Wingding asked when came back.

“Great,” I replied. “I got a seed.”

“A seed?”

“Yeah.” I showed him the echo flower seed I got. “I’m going to plant this, water it, and watch it grow.”

“Is that a... echo flower seed?”

“Yeah. Wingding, I know you don’t-”

“There are a few flowerpots in the shed outside. You can put it in your room,” Wingding interrupted, “Just don’t let it grow outside. I can’t stand the echoing voices.”

“Oh, thanks.” I went back outside, found the pot I needed, shoveled in some dirt, and put it on my desk.

Then poured some water on it, and sat down, smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Chara has finally seen the Echo Flowers. And yes, Madstablook is supposed to be the Mad Dummy, so you can imagine that he didn't get in trouble with the Royal Guard for nothing. And no, he will not appear in Book 1, but Napstablook will appear again, next chapter in fact.


	13. Music

It’s been about a week since I started hanging out with Pristina and Hapi. We’ve gone to the piano to play some music, talked about what’s been happening, and tried to get each other to try different fashions.

They told me about what was happening in the Underground as a whole. Asgore still has yet to announce what happened to me, but more monsters have begun to think that I must have been dead. Whether or not my soul was recovered (in theory) was still up in the air. But I didn’t care. I was more focused on having fun with my new friends.

Today I had convinced Wingding to bring Pristina and Hapi to the Clearing after school. He didn’t like it at first, but I thought it would be nice to have a better hang out than in the piano room, or at Hapi’s place, both were either public or close to public areas, so we agreed that it would be safer to hang out in an out of the way place from everything.

I was sitting on a rock, waiting for my friends to arrive. I was playing with fireball I conjured, tossing it back and forth between my hands. I had gotten much better with my magic since I started training with the Serif family.

I heard footsteps in the distance, and I knew that Wingding and my friends should be arriving. I saw them come around the brush, with a surprise guest.

“Hapi! Pristina! You’re here!” I called out. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, him?” Hapi gestured to another ghost, this one white, carrying one of those portable DJ music mixers. “This is my cousin that I told you about, Napstablook.” She flew over, and leaned towards me. “You can call him Blooky.”

Wingding walked over with Pristina, and whispered in my ear, “don’t worry, I know him. He’s shy, but he’s not a bad guy. You can trust him.”

I nodded in response.

“What did you tell her?” Pristina asked.

“Nothing important,” Wingding quickly replied.

Hapi looked around. “Hm, how drab.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” I told her.

“Gaster says this is where you practice magic?” Pristina asked.

“Yeah,” I said, tossing my fireball in the air, and making it explode in the air.

“Oh, Chara, I think you could have style,” Hapi replied.

“It’s like fireworks!” Pristina exclaimed.

Wingding just smiled.

“Well, I practice weekly, so... yeah,” I replied. “I have to thank Wingding for helping me, despite not have fire magic himself.”

Hapi spun around. “So Chara, you know me and Pristina like to dance, right? Have you ever danced?”

“Um, no. Wingding have you?” I asked him.

“Of course not. I don’t-” Wingding began.

“Oh, come on, Gaster,” Pristina interrupted. She held out her hand. “Dance with me!”

“So let me guess, we’re not getting out of this?” I asked.

“NOPE!” Hapi and Pristina said together.

Hapi snapped her fingers (I think. Sometimes arms appear on her, but they're like nubs. So it just... happened). “Okay, Napstablook, hit it.”

Napstablook set up his DJ system, and began playing some beats.

* * *

A few hours later, and I was having probably some of the best times of my life. Hapi and Pristina clearly loved dancing, and they showed me a lot of moves to try out.

Wingding danced with Pristina for almost an hour, before stepping to the side, and just watching. I guess this kind of activity just wasn’t for him. Though Pristina was disappointed a bit.

I however, loved it, learning new moves. I wasn’t really good, but Hapi said I had lots of potential, and that I should keep practicing.

After a while, we decided to take a break. Wingding went to the house, and came back with some sodas and bottles of water for us to drink to cool down a bit.

“That was great!” I exclaimed. “I’ve never been so energized.”

“I will admit,” Wingding said, “it is a good form of exercise. But I still prefer to practice my magic for that. Though... it may be good for Chara.”

“Well, sure, that’s a good idea... but doesn’t she also practice magic? Can’t she just do this for fun?” Pristina asked.

She had a point. Because monsters are made of magic, just practicing their magic counts as “exercise”. But since I was actually human, my magic came purely from my soul. True, it could strengthen my body, but it couldn’t replace true exercise for me. And I have been hiding for a couple years now, and I needed to be more active.

But since they didn’t know this, I said, “I could do both. Nothing’s wrong with that.”

“Well, okay,” Pristina replied.

I turned to Napstablook. “So you’re Hapi’s cousin, right? You’re really good with that music thing. Keep it up, I’d love to hear more in the future.”

“oh... uh, thanks,” Napstablook replied.

“Well, you’re not bad with music yourself, Chara,” Pristina said. “We know you’re great with the piano.”

“Yeah, but full-on music mixing, writing new music... I’ve never done anything like that,” I replied.

“Don’t sell yourself short, Chara. In my opinion, nothing can replace a beautiful instrument like the piano,” Wingding said. “Don’t get me wrong, Napstablook, you’re very skilled with the synths, and that is definitely worth something. I’m sure people will enjoy his music, but there is a sense of authenticity to playing a real instrument.”

“I suppose everyone has their own tastes,” Hapi said.

“Gaster, do you play an instrument?” Pristina asked.

“I play the piano like Chara, though not as often. I do it as one of many ways to keep my hands busy, unlike Chara, who just likes to play for fun,” Wingding replied.

“Yeah, but you’re really good,” I told him.

“But not as good as you. I’m not as interested in it as you are. It’s a small distraction for me, not a hobby.”

“Well, maybe you should find an instrument you do like,” Pristina said.

“Yeah, anything else you like the sound of?” Hapi replied.

“I don’t know. Violin, maybe?” Wingding answered.

“How about... ooh, acoustic guitar!” I offered.

“Guitar... me,” Wingding scoffed.

“Oh, come on. Try something new, Wingding,” I told him.

“...Well, I guess I’ll give it a try. We’ll see where that goes.”

“Oh, I can’t wait!” Pristina replied.

“Well, guys, you want to get back to it,” Hapi said. “No one can become great if they just sit around.”

We all got back up, and went back to our dance practice, except for Wingding, of course. I noticed, like Wingding had told me, Pristina was paying a lot of attention to Gaster, soaking in his occasional compliments and such.

I wondered... maybe... just maybe, she might have liked him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the most interesting chapter, I'll admit. I just wanted to establish that Chara does learn how to dance. Why? Well, you will see, but you probably have a good idea anyway. I also decided to give Gaster a new instrument to play, so he isn't sharing something with Chara, and is more unique.
> 
> I have to admit, I think taking Gaster's full name, W.D. Gaster, or Wingding Gaster, and making it a means to make it two names, was a mistake. Originally, Gaster was going to be his last name, but I choose to make it Serif, better playing up the skeleton-font naming scheme. But writing these gets really confusing for me as I write them out, and have to remember who calls Gaster what. If you know that Gaster has two names in his full name, then I don't find it hard to know he is the same characters under two names, but writing it out is a pain. I might reassess how I handle this is the future.
> 
> Oh, and I am building up something with Pristina. Now, don't let yourselves get too excited for this though. I can't say why, but it's not as big as you probably are thinking.


	14. Scare Bet

It’s been another two years... Wingding, now sixteen years old, had advanced beyond his junior high and high school education. He had graduated early due to his excess study and high marks, and was now looking into college and career paths.

Pristina and Happi continued to hang out with me. I had gotten better at dancing, and I continued trying out many new songs on the piano, all different styles of music. Wingding had joined in the fun after learning the acoustic guitar as I had suggested, though of course, we kind of had to force him to.

As for just me myself... I was a little frustrated with my body. I wasn’t growing too much, despite being fourteen, leveling out at about four-foot-ten. Wingding said I must have had a growth deficiency, and been born to be naturally short.

I hated being short, but there wasn’t much I could be about it. I had to live off of magic food, which could provide nutrients to well, keep me alive and “grow”, but not enough if I wasn’t going to grow at a steady rate naturally.

Pristina enjoyed having a friend that was short like her, but I really grew to dislike being called short, so Wingding convinced her to stop referring to me as such. (Though, of course, Gaster was still growing, he was already pretty tall.)

There was still no update for Asgore’s decree, whether or not I was the first soul. It was still all rumors.

Anyway, today was an interesting day for me. I’ll let them tell you about it though...

* * *

Gaster was visiting the snail farm again. He was speaking with Napstablook, when Hapstablook and Pristina arrived.

“Hey, Gaster,” Pristina called out. “I thought I heard you over here.”

“Pristina, Hapstablook, how are you?” Gaster replied. “I thought you would have gone to see Chara by now.”

“Yeah, but we wanted to say hi.”

“So, Gaster, there’s something I was wondering about Chara,” Hapstablook said.

“...What?” Gaster asked, confused. Couldn’t she ask Chara herself?

“We were talking things we like and don’t like, and Chara mentioned something about being scared. But she cut herself off, and refused to explain. I was wondering, do you know what she’s scared of?”

“Hapstablook, I don’t know,” Gaster said. “I’ve never... she doesn’t like talking about her past much.”

“Oh, what, about her parents getting in trouble with the royal guard, or her brother... oh, you know. She told us all about that.”

 _Because she was telling you an altered story from the real truth,_ Gaster thought. _And I was referring to before that. ...Not that it matters, you don’t know the truth about Chara anyway._

“...Gaster?” Pristina called out. Gaster must’ve been in thought for too long, because his silence seems to have worried her a bit.

“Sorry, I was- Anyway, Hapstablook, to answer your question, I know Chara is nervous around knives, but that’s about all I know. And she isn’t really afraid of them, as she can use them for her cooking just fine.”

“Hm...” Hapstablook closed her eyes for a second, before suddenly bursting out, “I know! Let’s have a scare bet!”

“A what?” Gaster asked.

“It’s an old family tradition we used to do in the ghost family. Ghosts aren’t easily scared, so we would try to take turns trying to scare one of our family members. Each of us have to try to scare a different way to find out what they were afraid of. We each get one try, and if we fail, they win.”

Gaster considered this. “So we take Chara, and put her through a set of scenarios... to scare her.”

“I don’t know... isn’t it kind of mean?” Pristina asked.

“Actually, kind of sounds fun,” Gaster exclaimed.

“What?”

“Finally, something we can agree on,” Hapstablook replied.

“So... when do we begin?” Gaster asked.

Awkwardly, Napstablook asked, “...um ...should i go?”

* * *

The next day, Pristina was taking Chara down into the Waterfall valley. She had Gaster set something up for her.

Being given the first turn, Pristina planned to win this bet here and now.

“So, where are you taking me?” Chara asked.

“Well... um...” _Uh oh, didn’t think this far ahead,_ Pristina thought. “...You see, ...there... is a rumor that there is a box that was lost in the valley, and if you sit in it for, a certain amount of time, uh, something interesting happens...”

“Okay, what are you up to?”

“N-nothing. Nothing at all!”

“Whatever... let’s see this box.”

They approached the box Gaster set up for her, which, like she asked, was just a normal wooden cabinet.

“A cabinet,” Chara said. “Is this a prank?”

“No, no, no,” Pristina replied. _Not exactly that, at least,_ she thought.

“Fine, I’ll bite. You want me to sit in that... ‘box,’ for how long?”

“For long as you... want. Just... knock when you want out.”

Chara rolled her eyes, and stepped into the cabinet. Once she closed the doors, Pristina ran up, and locked them up.

Gaster walked out from behind some nearby brush, followed by Hapi.

“Hey, what you doing here?” Pristina whispered to them. “You need to go.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I made sure the box is soundproof. She can’t hear us,” Gaster replied. “So what is it you’re trying to do?”

“Well, when I was younger, I was playing hide-and-seek with some friends, and I hid in a cabinet like this. Well, I hid so well, that no one found me-”

“Oh, dearie, you hid in your house, while everyone else was playing outside. It was your own fault we didn’t find you, we thought you went home,” Hapstablook replied.

Pristina stomped her foot down. “Don’t bring that up! The point is, I was in there for long, such a tiny box, and a little dark-”

“So you’re trying to scare Chara with claustrophobia, the fear of small and dark spaces,” Gaster replied. _Well, this could do the trick,_ he thought.

“Well, I locked the doors, and was thinking I wouldn’t let her out when she knocked, like I said I would.”

Gaster chuckled. “I didn’t think you would be so evil. Hapstablook, you can phase through the cabinet. Check on her when she knocks. Let’s not be rude and keep her waiting”

So they waited... and waited... Twenty minutes, thirty minutes, forty... After about an hour, Chara knocked. Hapstablook quickly flew in and back out after a couple seconds.

“She... looks normal. A little annoyed, maybe,” She told the skeletons.

Pristina sighed. “Okay, you two hide.”

Gaster and Hapstablook hid back behind the brush, and Pristina unlocked the doors.

Chara jumped out. “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry, I dozed off for a bit,” Pristina told her.

“And why did you lock the doors?”

“...Um, so I could get you out when you knocked, like I said.”

“So, you didn’t think I’d like to get out myself? And you know I could have used my magic and burned the door open, so it wouldn’t even matter.”

“Well, yeah... so... what happened?”

“Nothing... I was just sitting in a small, dark box, being annoyed for about an hour... could have also just lighted up the inside with my fire magic, too, by the way. Though... I did have some time to think. Probably why I was in there for so long.”

“What did you think about?”

“Oh... um, nothing important. Well, I’ve got to go. Bye.” And Chara ran off.

Gaster and Hapstablook walked back out. “Hm, I actually thought that might’ve worked,” Gaster said.

“Is this the best you can do?” Hapi asked. “Come on, that’s a childish fear.”

“Oh, come on, I tried,” Pristina replied.

“Well, I suppose Chara isn’t bothered by small spaces,” Gaster told them. “Well, maybe it’s because she is so small herself... don’t tell her I said that. You know she doesn’t like it when she’s called short.”

“Well, I guess I lost. So... who’s next?”

* * *

“So, why are we going to Hotland?” Chara asked.

“Oh, I want you to meet some distant friends,” Hapi replied.

“Friends, not family?”

“My family and their family have been close friends for a long time. Don’t worry, we just need to pick up some stuff, and you can talk for a while.”

“Why isn’t Pristina with us?” Chara asked.

“Oh, she couldn’t join us today.” Hapstablook stopped. “Here we are.”

They stopped outside an old wooden house, a few miles outside of the main area of Hotland, away from any of the magma and general heat that might burn it up (though it was still pretty warm). Though I was still was worried it might just fall apart.

“Are you sure-” Chara started.

“It’s fine, darling,” Hapi replied. “And the monsters who live here are great.”

She floated up, and knocked on the door. It then opened, and... no one was there.

“Um...”

“Come on, go on in.”

Chara walked on in. And Hapi followed her as the door closed.

Hapi floated back, before she got a surprise. “So this is your plan.”

She turned around to find Gaster and Pristina behind her. “Oh, hey.”

“The spider house?” Pristina asked.

“Well, the spiders have been close friends with the ghosts. Though other monsters tend to be very afraid of them. So, I asked them to put on a show for Chara.”

“Oh, that’s... oh,” Pristina said, little shocked.

Gaster was a little worried. He wasn’t scared of the spider species of monster like many others were, but he was aware that they were a very smart species of monster. Hapstablook and Pristina didn’t know this, but the spider family were the ones most likely to discern that Chara...

After a few minutes of waiting he couldn’t take it.

“Sorry, Hapstablook, but I don’t trust this,” Gaster said, and then ran inside.

He ran through the halls to find Chara... pulling off a bunch of webbing, talking to a young spider monster.

There were two varieties of monster spiders, small ones no different from normal ones (from what he’s read), and the not as common, more humanoid spiders. This was one of them, maybe six years old, with six arms, five eyes, purple skin, and short dark purple hair. She wore a small Lolita style dress.

“I never imaged that a human would be so fond of us,” the young spider said.

 _Of course,_ Gaster thought, _I knew they would figure it out. Dang it, Hapi, you couldn’t have thought of anything else._

“Well, spiders... they never really scared me, even on the surface,” Chara said. Gaster noticed that she was calm, having a happy chat. “But how did you find out-”

“A spider’s intuition, at least that’s what my parents call it. But don’t worry... you’re secret is safe with me.”

“Oh, thanks, I...” Chara looked over and saw Gaster. “Oh hey, Wingding... why are you here?”

“I... I... you two...” Gaster stuttered.

“Blame Hapi... though don’t actually tell her-”

“Obviously.” Gaster turned to the young spider. “And you?”

“I already told, your secret is safe with me... at a price.”

“What?”

Chara smiled. “Do you like tea parties, Wingding?”

* * *

An hour and one flowery tea party later, Gaster and Chara left the spider house, to find Hapstablook and Pristina.

“Oh Pristina, you made it!” Chara exclaimed. “Sorry, though, you’re a little late...” she turned to Hapi. “And where did you go!”

“Sorry, I, uh, got caught up in something, and-” Hapstablook started.

“Ugh, no excuses. At least WE had a good time with Muffet.”

“Oh, she a lovely little girl, isn’t she?”

Chara just rolled her eyes, and walked off, leaving the three of them alone.

“Hapi, this plan of yours was dangerous,” Gaster replied.

“Oh come on, I didn’t ask them to harm her or anything, just freak her out a bit,” Hapstablook said.

“Well, instead of scaring her, they, well, Muffet, just wanted a tea party in-” Gaster stopped himself. “Well, that’s not important. What is important is that the spiders have been dangerous to not just humans, but even other monsters in the past, and-”

“I get it, I get it, I put Chara in danger. But it was a good idea, wasn’t it?”

“Well, yes...”

“So, Hapi and I lost,” Pristina said. “It’s your turn Gaster. What’s your plan to scare Chara?”

“Well, let’s just say, at least my contact won’t actually attempt to harm her.”

“Wait, what does that mean?”

“Well, let’s follow, Chara.” Gaster then walked down the same path Chara went. Hapi and Pristina looked at each other with nervous looks, and then followed him. Along the way, Gaster got out his phone, and made a call. “Get ready.” He got a reply, and then hung up the phone.

* * *

They caught up with Chara, and found her waiting for them. “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry, I had to talk to your friends about... well, you know?” Gaster replied. Chara assumed he was talking about the spider house and Muffet. “Let’s go. Hotland is well... hot, and I’m not quite fond of it.”

Gaster continued along, the three girls followed along. They were close to the exit to Hotland, when suddenly a wall of rock sprung up in front of them.

“What the-” Chara cried out. Everyone turned around all to find another wall rising up as well, leaving only a cliff drop into lava, and a steep slope opposite to that.

Suddenly, they heard a sound above them, on top of the slope. They looked up to see a large boulder sitting on the edge of the top.

“Hey Wingding, can you-” Chara turned to see Gaster smiling. Uh oh, she thought.

Suddenly the boulder started rolling down the slope. Pristina stepped back. “G-Gaster, what did you do? I’m scared.”

Chara stepped in front of everyone. “Don’t worry, I got this.” She summoned fire and prepared to destroy the falling boulder.

But before she could, a loud, gruff voice spoke out, “wait! Stop! No, no!”

Two arms grew out of the boulder, and slammed on the ground, stopping it just as it reached them.

The boulder spun back a bit, and a face appeared on it. “Okay, I was asked to give everyone a scare, not get blown up!”

“Wait, what?” Chara asked. “Who asked you to do this?”

“The tall skeleton, right there!” The boulder monster pointed at Gaster.

Chara turned to Gaster. “Give us a scare?”

“Well, nothing is scarier than a near-death situation,” he replied.

“Why?”

Gaster sighed. “It was Hapstablook’s idea.”

Chara turned to her. “Your idea?”

“Well, we wanted to know you were scared of, so we all had a scare bet.”

“A scare bet. Really? You all tried to scare me?”

Everyone looked down in shame, until suddenly, Chara started laughing.

“Wh-what? Chara!” Pristina replied.

“I’m sorry, but finally it all makes sense. Why all of you were acting so weird.” Chara hugged her stomach as she tried to calm her laughter. “And it’s so funny! I can’t... I can’t...” she lost control laughing again.

Gaster snickered a bit as well. “Well, I supposed it was fun. But we’ve got to go. Thank you Bernard, for your assistance.”

“Yeah, well, just keep that crazy fire girl away from me,” replied the boulder monster. He then waved his arms, causing the rock walls to crumble apart, and then he rolled off.

“Well, I guess we got to go, too,” Hapstablook said. “See you guys later!”

Pristina waved, and the two of them left, while Chara and Gaster continued to laugh for a bit.

* * *

Wingding and I just reentered Waterfall. I thought about the past few days. Scare? Me? Ha! What a joke.

“So, did you guys all lose? Is that how the bet worked?” I asked Gaster.

He nodded. “I honestly thought a near-death situation like that would get you. But, then again, considering you’re past, I figured Pristina’s little plan might have had a chance.”

“Well, I never really hid like that. I’ve always kind of just... fought back.”

“That’s must be your determination talking.”

“Wingding, were you sacred for ME when I went into the spider house?”

“The spiders are dangerous monsters, and smart. Of course I was scared for you. I’m mean they did figure out you are human.”

“Well, just the one little girl. ...And her tiny servants. But it isn’t too much of a problem.”

“Ugh, I suppose...”

We took a turn, and then I realized something. “This isn’t the way we came in before.”

“Well, of course. Hapstablook must’ve taken you down through a shortcut before. This is the normal way back into Waterfall. Cross the bridge, pass by the snail farm, and back down into the valley.”

“A-are you sure,” I replied.

“Trust me, considering where I had taken you for my turn of the bet, this is faster. Though I’ve never liked this bridge. It’s old, and needs fixing, but it’s stable enough.”

We walked out of the cavern, and turned towards the bridge in question. It wasn’t too long, but it was only wide enough for one person to cross at a time. There were no railings, some of the planks were slanted, and off-balance.

“Uh, you sure that’s safe?” I asked.

“Safe enough, fortunately,” Wingding replied. Then he started crossing, only to look back and notice that I hadn’t moved an inch. “Well, what you waiting for, come on!”

“O-okay.” I took a tiny step forward, and another. I was crossing the bridge at a snail’s pace. I could hear the creaking of the bridge under me as I crossed.

“Are you okay, Chara. You look pale.”

“I-I’m fine, I’ll b-be fine. I can... I can make it.” Suddenly, of the planks gave way, but only just a bit. It didn’t fall or get misplaced, but it was enough to make me look down, and... I fell down. “NO, I’M NOT OKAY! I’M NOT OKAY!”

Suddenly, Wingding dashed to my side, and grabbed my arm. “It’s okay. I’m here. I’m going help get up, and then get across.”

I nodded, and grabbed his hand. He lifted me up, and guided me across the bridge. It wasn’t until I was a few feet away from the bridge when I caught my breath and started to calm down.

“I’m sorry,” Wingding said. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s not your fault,” I replied.

He looked back at the bridge. “You don’t like bridges?”

“No, nothing’s wrong with them... except that one.”

“You’re afraid of falling. High places.”

Tears welled in my eyes. “I almost died when I fell into the Underground. Asriel found me... and I got used to the idea of monsters... but when I slipped and fell, I thought that was it for me. I still have nightmares of it. They... my parents told to not look down. And that works... until it moves. Then I remember what’s below me, and I...”

Wingding pulled into a hug, comforting me. “It’s okay.”

I laughed a little. “I guess you were right. Near-death experiences are scary. It’s just a lot more specific then you thought.”

Wingding chuckles at this. “Come on. Let’s go home. And maybe avoid any cliffs on the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I call this the "Chapter based off that one episode in Ouran Host Club" (one of the few anime shows I've actually seen). And I did not think that this chapter would be so long when I conceptualized and wrote it, but that's how it happened, so... longest chapter yet! Really it's here to point out one aspect of Chara's character, because I am a really bad writer. But whatever.
> 
> Also, young Muffet cameo! Yeah! Now how will this play out during the main story, hm?


	15. Ghost Date

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. Hapi owed me for this.

I was walking up to Napstablook’s place, which was right next to Hapi’s. She asked me to do something for her. Something for Blooky. And well, now here I was.

I looked back. Hapi and Pristina were hiding behind a rock, looking over to me. Pristina gave me a thumbs up.

I turned back to the door, and gave a knock.

After a few seconds, the door opened up, revealing Napstablook.

“Hi,” I said.

“...oh, hello,” Blooky replied.

I pulled out an echo flower from behind my back. “So, I wanted to know... if... you... would...” Oh, you can do it, I told myself. “Would you... go on a date with me?”

Blooky was quiet. He then started to float backward, and slowly fell until his back was on the floor.

I walked up to Blooky, worried. The echo flower in my hand quickly said, “go on a date with me,” echoing what I just asked.

“Blooky?” I asked.

“why me...” he replied, “why ask me... i’m just... me...”

Come on, Hapi, you said this would be easy. “What’s wrong, wouldn’t you want to... date... someone in your life.”

“...no...”

“Come on.” You really owe me, Hapi. “Just one?”

“... ... ...okay...”

“So, uh, when do you want to go?”

“anytime is good. uh, now, maybe...?”

* * *

Well, that escalated quickly.

We decided to take a walk through the Waterfall. Nothing more, nothing less. We decided to just talk about somethings about each other (though we both already a lot about each other). Then he asked about that question, “so what do you think of the human soul?”

“The what?” I asked.

“...the first human soul asgore supposedly has. do you think it’s true? does he have it?”

“Um, no, not really? I mean, he would’ve told everyone by now if he had a human soul, right?”

“...but, he’s hasn’t said he doesn’t have one either...”

“True, but... let’s just say, I have reason to believe that he doesn’t have one yet. ...I really can’t explain.” I scratched behind my ear in that kind of nervous fashion. Eager to change the subject, I asked, “so, uh, Blooky, have you always been this shy?”

“...yeah. i just... i want to make friends... but i feel better when i am alone, working on my music.”

“But you try.”

“well... i just feel better working on my own.”

“Maybe you just need some time talking to people. Hapstablook might be able to help.” I mean, she was... and putting me in the middle of it.

“hapi is good with talking... she has big dreams, from what I hear. but me... i don’t want much.”

I wasn’t what to think about that. He was a good guy, and deserved more. But I couldn’t go against his wishes.

“You know... you’re lucky,” I didn’t to tell him. “You at least have a supportive family. When my brother died, it was so hard on me. It didn’t help that I met Wingding that same day, and... he wasn’t as warm to me as he is now.”

“...oh, i didn’t know that.”

“Hapi... is really lucky to have someone like you.”

“what about your other family?” he asked.

“I... it’s something I don’t like to talk about,” I replied.

I took a look a Blooky. He was leaning a little away from me, looking away in his shy demeanor. And looking at him, I thought it was a little cute.

Wait, did I...?

“chara?” Blooky spoke up, a little concerned.

“Sorry, I...” I stuttered. “Um, Blooky? How do you...”

“how do i what?”

I was just going to say it. “How do you feel about me?”

“...um you’re really nice, and smart, and talented, and... i guess you’re cute...”

“You think I’m cute?”

He quickly looked away while blushing.

I moved a little closer, and put my hand on... well, what I thought was his shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright.”

Blooky looked up at me, and smiled. “you’ve gotten better at your magic.”

It may have seemed like an odd comment, but since he was a ghost, I shouldn’t have been able to touch him. But with magic, I could. But that wasn’t what I was concerned about.

I looked into his eyes, and I said, “you know, you’re kinda cute, too.” And you know, I felt that was an honest answer.

Blooky just floated there, silent.

“So,” I started, “did you want to grab a bite to eat... or, something...”

...

“Blooky?”

“... ...i’m...”

“Yes?”

“sorry...”

“Huh...”

“i don’t think this is working,” Napstablook said. “...i meant what i said... about you, i mean. but i don’t think i’m into you.”

“Oh,” I said. I tried to hide it, but I was disappointed. I actually was starting to think we had something going. “...Well, I guess that’s alright.”

“we... can still be friends, right?”

“Oh, of course! I never said we couldn’t be!” I replied. I then decided, “I know it’s not going to work between us, but I can still do this?”

“Um... sure... but what-” Blooky started, before I interrupted him with a kiss on the forehead.

His face got really red, before he said, “uh... thanks... i...”

I smiled. “It’s okay.”

He nodded. “i... i’ve got to go home. i-”

“It’s fine, go on! see you later... buddy!” I waved to him as he flew.

I smiled, happy that I could do this, and turned around to make the walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with how this chapter came out, but I wanted to write this one, and this was the best I came up with. Actually, I almost forgot to write this one, good thing I have a list of all the subjects I wanted to cover in Book 1. And the chapter is nice and short, and maybe it's a cute one, too. Nice to read... I hope.


	16. Skull Blasters

We watched as Wingding stood there, focusing his magic. He summoned six bones, collected into two groups of three each. Two of the bones were the tops of some kind of animal skulls. The other four were their jaws, but they split into two halves (so two pairs of jaw halves equaling four bones). They all organized themselves into two scary-looking skeletal beast-heads.

We were in the Clearing, watching Wingding prepare for a new spell he was creating. This is what he working towards his entire life, to become a spell-smith, and he was hoping that doing it now, would get into a higher student position in college. There was only really one, and getting more favor from the limited teachers would seriously help him. Not the best situation, but this was the Underground. All situations were limited.

Once Wingding summoned his beast skulls, I mocked, “oh, wow. You made more bones!” I didn’t fully understand how these were special.

“They... look like... demonic dog skulls,” Pristina pointed out. I suppose it would have made sense that she, a skeleton would’ve known what kind of animal these skulls belonged to.

“Yes, they are inspired by the canine design, but they are so much more than that,” Wingding replied.

“They look like a bunch of bones to me,” Hapi replied.

I had to admit, that’s what it looked like to me, and because of that, I didn’t see the point, as it didn’t seem practical.

You see, I knew how skeleton magic worked, and I knew that it took a lot of magic energy to create solid matter from magic, like a skeleton monster’s bone magic, and as such it’s pretty exhausting. So usually, skeletons make a bunch of bones in advance and basically keep them in a box, or if they're powerful enough, a pocket dimension of sorts, and then teleport them to their side when needed.

But as a standard, the basic femur shape is practical and functional. Making a skull didn’t make sense to me, unless Wingding wanted to clamp down on something, which wasn’t his style. And really, how was this a new magic spell?

“...So, I’ll bite, what is it supposed to do?” I asked. “Because I don’t-”

“Don’t worry, Chara, let me explain,” Wingding replied. “These... are skull blasters. They are supposed to channel the soul power of the caster, and well...” he chuckled.

“So, show us.”

Wingding put his hands behind his back. “It’s not so simple. This is a new spell. I need time to adjust to them.”

“Then why are we here?” Hapi asked, sounding bored.

Wingding smiled. “Because it shouldn’t take long before the first successful tests.” He closed his eyes and raised his hands, focusing. We watched... and waited... as nothing happened. Wingding started to get visibly frustrated, before throwing his hands down. “It should have... argh!”

Hapi rolled her eyes, and Pristina looked down. I just stared, thinking about what went wrong.

“Hey, Wingding,” I called out. “Can I ask something?”

He looked up, not saying anything.

“Magic comes from our soul, right? So we already channel soul power with our magic.”

“Yes, this should be an extension of that, so-” he started.

“Just listen for a sec,” I interrupted, “you’re trying channel magic through magic, not a soul.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I- um...” I looked at the skull blasters. They were like animal skulls. “Skeletons are all made of bones, and they use bones for their magic. So their extensions of yourself. So, maybe... try to not just power them with your soul power... but try to connect your soul to them.”

Wingding looked at me with surprise. “What! How...? That’s... impossible!”

I looked down, then, determination filling my heart, I got up, walked towards him with purpose. “It is... you just need to think of these skulls... not like tools, but TRUE extensions of yourself!”

He glared at me, then sighed as he lowered his head. “Then you do it. Reveal your soul.”

My eyes widened at that, but then I nodded in agreement. Making sure my back was to Hapi and Pristina, so they couldn’t see my human soul, and then I focused, and I felt (and saw) my soul, a crimson red heart, float out of my body.

Wingding revealed his own soul, and then raised his hand towards me. Suddenly, I felt something. It was the same feeling I got I summoned fire, the magic the comes from my soul. But... I had nothing summoned.

I extended my thoughts and tried manipulated whatever this was... and found that one of Wingding’s blaster moved in response.

“W-wait! Did you just give me some of your magic?! Is that even possible?!” I replied, alarmed.

“Just the one blaster. I still need to have the other to test myself,” Wingding replied. “Now, let’s see if YOU can determine how to ‘connect’ your soul to your blaster.”

I didn’t say anything. I just close my eyes, and focused. I thought about how Toriel first taught me magic, connecting our souls together, like what me and Wingding just did, but this was kind of different. But I tried to remember those feelings, to feel them again, and think about my soul being of a part of the blaster.

After a while, Hapi said, “okay, nothing is happening. Just stop.”

Wingding sighed. “I agree, Chara-”

“No!” I countered. “I can do this.”

...Then, after about another minute, Wingding said, “Chara, your blaster, how...”

I opened my eyes to find that the eye sockets of my blaster wasn’t empty, allow others to see into in the skull inside, but filled with a blackness, dark, much like a normal skeleton monster. I watched a red pupil appeared in the eye socket.

“Wow,” Pristina replied, “it’s... alive, I think.”

“I spent so long designing these, made all the necessary calculations, and yet... this is the one thing I missed,” Wingding said, “do you... think you can explain how you did this.”

“I- ...yeah. Of course,” I replied. I explained everything I thought about and felt, excluding the part about Toriel. It wasn’t easy to explain, but he seemed to understand.

“...That’s incredible,” he replied.

“So, you didn’t get your magic naturally?” Pristina asked.

“That’s strange for a monster, you know, to not have their magic from birth,” Hapi said.

I froze up. I didn’t realize that saying explaining how I got my magic might clue them in on who I really was. But then again, I was overreacting, right? It was just magic, humans weren’t supposed to have magic, so...

Wingding noticed my distress. He nodded in my direction, and turned to my friends. “Okay, let’s see I can make this work.” I knew what he was doing. Distracting my friends, trying to take their minds off of me.

He revealed his soul again, and put his hand on his remaining blaster. He closed and focused again, and then... his blaster came to life.

“To work, it has to have its own life, however small,” he said. “let’s hope that’s right.”

He again raised his hand, this time he had more confidence in his eyes. His blaster’s mouth opened up, and a light appeared inside it.

...And then it burst forth, a blinding white beam of light surged out, directed towards a nearby boulder... and it was blasted into rubble.

“Woah...!” Hapi, Pristina and I all said at once.

Suddenly, Wingding collapsed. “Wingding!” I yelled as I ran up to him.

He was still conscious, and tried to get back up, and I helped him. “I’m okay,” he said. “I expected this. This was just the first test... I knew the energy consumption wouldn’t be balanced, not to mention it would take time to become used to this much discharge of energy. It’ll take time and practice, but I’ll figure it out eventually. Then, maybe I could show you how to use them properly.”

He stood up to his full height. “Thank you, Chara, for helping me see what I couldn’t.”

“I’m sure you could of figure it out on your own,” I replied.

“Perhaps, but it would’ve taken much longer.” Wingding snapped his fingers, and his blaster disappeared.

I looked at my own blaster. “I guess I can figure out how to dispel mine later.” Then I thought of something and smiled. “You know ‘Gaster’, these skulls are real... ‘Gaster blasters’, aren't they,” I nudged him.

He sighed. “Please, no puns.”

“Oh, come on. Admit it, it’s funny.”

“Well...”

“I guess it’s official,” Hapi said. “There now called Gaster Blasters.”

He looked away. “I need to go rest, and consider the new calculations for energy consumption.” And he walked.

Pristina got up, and looked in the direction he walked off in.

I walked over to her. “You know, if you really like him...”

“Wh-what?!” Pristina said quickly. “What are you-”

“Come on, you know you like him. But he doesn’t. He’s dense. If you want him, you have to make the attempt yourself. Don’t wait, cuz it won’t happen.”

“...You sure?”

“Hey, I’m his closest friend. Consider this my blessing. Now go!”

Pristina looked at Hapstablook, who nodded to her. Then she smiled back at me, and ran after him.

“So, you sure this will work out?” Hapi asked.

I rested my hand on my own Gaster Blaster. “He needs to open up more to people. Can’t think of anyone better to do it than her. They’ll be good for each other, I’m sure of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so now I have introduced the Skull Blasters, or as they are more commonly known as, the Gaster Blaster (and yeah, I had to name them via pun, it was so obvious). I also finally started pushing the romance between Gaster and Pristina, though, mostly because I am a terrible writer... I'll be skipping straight the results. We're almost done with this arc! Just one more time skip, and another chapter or two. And the next chapter is going to involve someone very special! So look forward to that!


	17. The Proposal

It’s been about two to maybe two and half years since Gaster, currently eighteen years old (and I was sixteen, by the way), started college, and between the limited knowledge, as well as magic teaching the Underground could provide, and Gaster’s knack for studying and learning, he had finally graduated.

We had decided to throw a party the day after Gaster received his degree in magic creation and research. Semi, Hapi, Blooky, Pristina, and I all prepared the event at my (well, Gaster’s) place.

Gaster and Pristina, who have been dating for over two years now, were sitting together. I was talking with Blooky and Hapi about what our plans might be when we “regular monsters” graduated. I, of course, had no answer (because I was in hiding from Asgore), so I just talked about what I hoped Gaster might achieve in the future.

Oh yeah, I’ve stopped calling Gaster “Wingding”. Well, I haven’t completely, it was just Hapi and Pristina occasionally got confused or forgot that Wingding and Gaster were the same person, so they asked me to call him Gaster like they did. I still called him Wingding during private conversations, though, and Gaster may has given Pristina the okay to call him by his real name, because of how close they’ve gotten, though she shortened it to W.D. Gaster, which I think he liked. Always liked to be intimidating, didn’t he?

Anyways, after a while, I decided to ask Gaster, “so, what are you planning to do know?”

“Hm, I think...” he put his hand to his chin. “I want to explore more about the soul. When you helped me with my blasters, it got me curious. About the true power of the soul, and it’s true nature. I want to learn more about it. To start, I think I’m going to look back at my first unique bone constructs. My...” Gaster tensed up a little, “extra hands.”

I knew what he was talking about. That moment we first really talked to each other, learned more about each other. It started with Gaster threatening me. That was when he made those extra hands. Since then, he hasn’t used them.

But it’s been so long, I wasn’t bothered by that. So I replied, “sounds like a good idea.”

He smiled. “I was also considering looking into old magic. Magic that hasn’t been practiced in centuries. Not since-”

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. “Allow me,” Semi said. Once he opened the door, he got a surprise. “Hello- I... uh... your majesty!”

That caught my attention. I turned to Semi, and he made nudging motions, which basically meant “hide”.

I couldn’t go to my room without crossing the front door, so I hid behind the couches. Pristina opened her mouth to say something, but Hapi shushed her, saying “Royal Guard, remember?” Pristina then gave a quiet “oh yeah”, and didn’t say anything more.

Gaster, however, got up and walked to the edge of vision from what you could see outside the door. He had summoned one of his blasters. I guess he was expecting a fight that might occur if I was found.

“Howdy, I’m looking for a ‘Wingding Serif’, or 'Gaster', as I have heard.” I recognized that voice anywhere. King Asgore Dreemurr. My adopted father, or at least, he was.

“Why do you need to see my son,” Semi asked.

“Oh, I just heard about how he excelled through school and college, and... I have a proposal for him. An opportunity.”

“Well, I-”

“Father,” Gaster interrupted. He dispelled his blaster, and walked into view. “King Dreemurr.”

“Oh, please call me Asgore,” he replied. “May I come in?”

Gaster looked over to where I was hiding, then back to Asgore. “I have friends over, right now. I wouldn’t want the place to get crowded. May we take a walk. Keep this private.”

“Oh, of course. I shouldn’t intrude.”

“Yes, and I like to get straight to business. ...Though, before you leave, would you like some quiche?”

* * *

Asgore and Gaster took a path towards the edge of Waterfall by Snowdin. They were in an area where the “bridge seeds” grew. They both had a plate of quiche, though Asgore had long since finished his on the walk.

“So, Asgore,” Gaster asked, “what would you like from me?”

“Oh, yes, sorry,” Asgore replied. “So, you’ve made quite the accomplishment, Wing-”

“Call me Gaster. Only those I care about are allowed to call me ‘Wingding’. Though, my girlfriend likes to call me ‘W.D. Gaster’, if that sounds better to you.”

“Gaster is fine. You must have a brilliant mind, Gaster. And I wanted to know if you would start a project.”

“Hm, this way, I know a place we can rest.” Gaster led Asgore down a thin strip of land between a wall and the water, leading to a small alcove with a bench.

Once the two sat down, Asgore continued. “As you may know, the Underground is advancing farther and farther. With the technology that comes from the surface, we are learning so much in this regard.”

“Yes, of course. Even I use it occasionally,” Gaster replied. He had actually fixed up a pair of phones for both him and Chara. “What does this have to do with me. Don’t you already have scientists fixing them up for you.”

“Yes, but you... I believe you could solve a growing issue. You see, as technology continues to become part of everyday life, the citizens have begun to complain about powering it. The need for energy is growing, Gaster. And I don’t think my current scientists can solve this issue by themselves.”

“I see. So what you need... is a single massive generator, to power the entire Underground. And you want me to spearhead and lead this project.”

“Yes, in fact, I wanted to ask if you would become my head scientist,” Asgore replied.

Gaster set his quiche under the bench, and put his hands under this chin. This was a big opportunity. The head scientist. Asgore’s personal royal scientist. That was quite the opportunity. This would give him the resources to study anything he wanted.

But then there was Chara to think about. This could bring her at risk of being revealed to Asgore or the Royal Guard. This was everything he could’ve ever wanted, but could he do it when it could threaten Chara...?

“I’ll... need some time to think about this, my king, it is a difficult decision,” Gaster told him.

“Ah, I see...” Asgore replied. He got up to leave.

“Give me two weeks. Two weeks to make my decision, and make some plans. Then I’ll personally meet you at your castle.”

“Okay. See you then, W.D. Gaster,” the king told him, “and thank you for the quiche. It was delicious.” Then he left.

Gaster sat there for another minute or two. “It was made by my close friend,” Gaster replied to no one in particular. Then he got up and returned home, to tell Chara and his friends about Asgore’s proposal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for the second to the last Chapter of this Act. And now, I have introduced Asgore. He is planned to appear a couple more times in this Book, but not too much. Also, I'm now setting up for Gaster's greatest project, which means we're reaching the tail end of this part of the story. And it feels so good to finally getting to the end of Chara's "backstory" (considering the original intent of this story). Just a couple more chapters to go.


	18. The First Human

It is amazing how you can change in a single day. Where before, you completely despise something, but then you find one little part of that is different, and your views change... even if it's small.

As much as I hated Asgore for abandoning me as his family, I still hated humankind more. It didn’t matter to me if I was a human myself, what they did to me... was unforgivable. My parent's abuse, the indifference of everybody else when I ran away. I wouldn’t have cared when Asgore got his first human Soul, if that ever happened.

At least, that’s what I thought. At first...

* * *

I was alone in the piano room. Just playing by myself. Gaster and Pristina were shopping in the Waterfall community, mostly so Gaster could keep an eye on anyone leaving towards my location. Hapi and Blooky... were probably enjoying time at home.

Gaster had told me about his offer from Asgore. This was a big deal for him, everything he could have ever wanted. But still, it would put me at risk. Maybe not a whole lot, but to work closely with the one guy I had to avoid to stay alive. It was a hard decision. I was glad Gaster told me... but I needed time to think about it. ...It’s been three days since then.

This whole ordeal has been bugging me this entire time, so I thought, maybe playing the piano might clear my mind.

I was playing a happy, upbeat tune, humming to myself as I played, just alone in my thoughts. That’s when I heard her voice.

“La, la la la, la. La, la la la, la...” a young female voice was singing along with the song I was playing. At least until I was startled by her singing, which caused me to stop playing.

She stopped singing as well. “Um... why did you stop playing?”

I took a deep breath, and started turning around, saying, “sorry, you just startled-” I stopped when I saw who was speaking.

A human, an actual human. Specifically, a young girl, maybe five years old, with blonde hair and aqua blue eyes. She was wearing a white and blue-striped shirt, jeans, and white sneakers. And when she was smiling, it was the brightest smile you could imagine.

“Are you okay?” She asked.

“I- I- sorry, I’m... fine. I’m fine.” Truth was, I wasn’t fine. I didn’t think this would happen. I mean, I fell into the Underground, but what were the chances it would happen again? It’s not like Mount Ebott was a popular place. Or, maybe it was. Did that change since I fell?

“Okay,” the girl replied, with her big ol’ smile. “I’m Alisa!”

“Oh, I’m...” Wait, I thought, should I tell her my name. I don’t like humans. But... she’s just a child.

There was something holding back any anger I might have had with her. She was young. Heck, she was three years younger than I was when I fell. Did she even know how horrible humankind was?

“...I’m Chara,” I decided to tell her.

“Oh, are you like... hm, the Mad Hatter?” she asked.

“What?” I replied. I didn’t know what she talking about. I wasn’t even wearing a hat. I don’t wear hats. My jacket had a hood, and I had an umbrella... and that’s all I needed. And why “Mad”? Did she think I was angry, or insane?

“You know, I’m Alice, and you’re the Mad Hatter!”

“Yes, you’re Alisa, or Alice, whatever, but I am Chara. I don’t even own a hat. What are you even talking about?”

“Uh, Alice in Wonderland. And... my name is like hers. So when I fell, I thought this had to my Wonderland! There was even a White Rabbit. But she called herself a goat, which is wrong!”

“Okay, okay,” I tried to stop her, because everything she was saying was overloading my brain, and I lived with MONSTERS! They were so weird, nothing should sound crazy to me anymore, but this girl was just that. Sounding absolutely crazy.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve never heard of this ‘Alice in Wonderland’.”

“But, um... maybe... because you’re part of the story?”

“Well, that's a good argument. But, sorry to burst your bubble... but whatever ‘Wonderland’ is, this isn’t it. This place is called the Underground, home of monsters.”

“Monsters? But, they were too nice to be monsters.”

Oh no, she’s already met some monsters. Well, the few I knew didn’t know I was human, so maybe the ones she met were just as confused by her as I was, and hopefully, they couldn’t figure it out.

“Well, they are nice, but they are monsters. And don’t be scared of them,” I told her. But I felt bad about saying that, knowing that while it was generally true, they still were going to hunt her down. “And... you know, I’m just like you. A human in a strange world. I fell, just like you, and I-”

“Wait, you fell too?” Alisa interrupted. “Did you follow a white rabbit as well?”

I thought back to what happened when I fell in. ...Asriel found me. He wasn’t a rabbit, but...

Tears started to well up in my eyes. “Sorry, I’m just... listen, I’m going to take you to my home. You can stay there, and be safe.”

“That’s what the rabbit said,” she replied.

“I don’t care about the rabbit or goat or whatever it is. You... need some rest,” I decided to say. “How long have you been walking around?”

“Um... I don’t know.”

“Well, a nap wouldn’t hurt, now would it.”

“Hm... okay, fine...”

I held out my hand, and she grabbed it. And I began leading her to my home.

* * *

When we got back, I stopped Alisa before we went inside. “So Alisa, I happen to live with some skeleton monsters. They may seem creepy at first, and Gaster could be... mean at times, but they are nice people. So wait here, and I’ll let them know you’re here.” I was about to enter, but I quickly turned back around and said, “Oh, and down in the Underground, you and I... we’re called homo-sapiens.”

“Homo... say-pea-en,” Alisa sounded out, and then smiled.

“Good. Remember that.” I entered my home, and called out, “Semi, I’m back! And, uh... I need to show you something... rather important!”

No response.

“Semi, are you here?! I’d thought you’d be home!”

“Sorry, sorry,” I heard suddenly. Then I saw Semi climb down the stairs. “I was busy with something. But, that doesn’t matter. So, what is so important?”

“Hey, Alisa, you can come in,” I called back.

Alisa walked in behind me, and peeked around me.

“Is that, a-”

“Another... homo-sapien, yes,” I interrupted Semi. I turned to Alisa. “Don’t be scared. Say hello.”

Alisa walked out from behind me. “Hello.”

Semi knelt down, and held his out. “Well, hello there. They call me Semi. And you’re... Alisa, yes?”

She nodded nervously.

“So, what do you like to do, Alisa? Draw? Hear stories?”

“I like to sing!” Alisa replied, and then she began to do just that, singing a simple tune.

“Chara, can I talk to you? Alone,” Semi asked me.

“Yeah,” And I led him to the kitchen.

“Where did she come from?” Semi asked.

“I don’t know, aside from probably the Surface. She just walked in on me playing the piano. She... you know what’s going to happen to her, if we don’t...”

Semi sighed. “Look, I don’t have a problem with taking care of another human, but you... don’t you hate humanity? Why do you want to help her?”

I looked down.

“Sorry, that’s a dumb question-”

“No, it’s okay,” I interrupted, “I... I don’t know what it is, but... this kid. I just... feel like I need to help her. I- I’m, sorry I don’t know.”

“It’s okay... but Chara, it’s not going to be easy to take care of another child.”

“I know, but we have to-”

“Father, I’m back! Is Chara here-” a new voice spoke from the front room, before suddenly stopping.

I quickly turned around. “Wingding! Wait!”

I ran back into the front room. Gaster and Pristina just returned, finding Alisa singing in the front room.

“H-hi,” Alisa greeted nervously.

“Oh, hello,” Pristina replied. She turned to me. “You found another one of your kind. That’s awesome.”

Gaster just stared at her. He seemed... unsure. But I got the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

“Gaster...” I called to him. “Are you okay?”

“I... Chara... what- sorry, who is this?” he asked.

“This is Alisa.” I turned to the little girl. “Hey, do you want to sing for my friend.”

“O-okay,” she replied, still nervous about the tall skeleton. Then, slowly, she began singing, “Tra, tra la la. Fa, fa la la...”

This went on for a minute or two, and in the time, Gaster seemed to calm down.

“You feeling better now, sweetie?” Pristina.

“Yeah- I- I need some rest,” Gaster replied. Then he went up to his room.

Alisa looked down. I knelt down beside her, and said, “Don’t worry, give him some time. He’ll warm up to you.”

 _At least I hope so,_ I thought, _he did with me, I have to believe he can do the same for you. I have to..._

* * *

It’s been a few days since Alisa arrived. She started getting used to living here. Gaster’s lightened up to her, and Alisa has gotten closer to our small family, especially me. We decided to keep her on the down-low with our friends for now, and asked Pristina to not tell Blooky and Hapi about her.

Alisa spent a lot of time with me, reading or drawing with me, singing with me while I play the piano. It was great. It made me feel... whole. But I couldn’t understand why.

Gaster taught her about the Soul, and even revealed her own soul to here. He told me that she had the trait of Patience. He then explained that monsters usually aren’t born with their Soul Trait, and gain it when they get older. If it is the same for humans, then it is impressive that she got her trait at such a young age. But he told me this because she is still young, and it still might not have fully developed. He also reminded me that anyone could have their own trait fail on them from time to time.

I knew this too well, when I let my fear takes over my determination, and how easy it can be.

Alisa was already becoming restless. She was wanting to leave, and continue on her “adventure”. I still didn’t know what she was talking about considering her delusion about being in “Wonderland” (not that I blamed her), but... I couldn’t let Asgore get to her. I just couldn’t...

One morning, I was talking with Gaster about the generator project proposal from Asgore, when Alisa came down. She was dressed back up in her traveling clothes from the other day.

“Hey, Chara, I want to go now...” she told me.

“Alisa, I don’t think that is such a good-”

“But I want to go! ...It’s was really playing with you, but I need to go now...”

I knelt down next to her. “Listen, Alisa, it’s not safe out there...”

“You said that monsters were nice...”

I lowered my head. “To tell you the truth... yes, there are, but only if they don’t know... that we’re human.”

“But-”

“Chara has tricked them into thinking that she is one of them,” Gaster told her. “But she still has to be careful when going out. And she can’t face the king, child.”

“But if she can leave-” Alisa started.

“She’s older, more mature. She knows how to protect herself. You don’t. You need to learn...”

Alisa started crying, and then ran back upstairs to my room, where she was sharing it with me.

“You didn’t need to be so harsh with her...” I told Gaster.

“She had to hear that. You know she’s getting restless. If we want to keep her alive...” he replied.

“I know, but-” I sighed, “I’m going to go talk to her.”

I went up the stairs and slowly opened my door. “Hey, Alisa... can we talk-”

My eyes went wide, as the room was empty, but the window in the back was open.

“Alisa... ALISA!” I ran up to window, and saw a tiny figure running away.

Alisa... how- I looked down and found vines growing up the side of the house. She must’ve used them to climb down.

“Gaster! Follow me outside! Now!” I yelled down, hoping he heard me. I then jumped out of the window.

A jump from the two-story window wasn’t good on my knees, but I was alright. What mattered was getting Alisa and keeping her safe.

I ran off in the direction I thought she went. But it was too late... I lost her.

After a few minutes of running around, searching for her, and stopped to catch my breath. I heard Gaster calling out behind me.

“Chara!” He saw me and ran up to me. “What’s going on?”

“Alisa... she got out! We have to find her!”

Gaster looked around. “I could try to track her using my vision, but we’re in a more vast area of the Underground right now. It could take a while-”

Suddenly we heard a scream in the distance. It was hard to discern, but I knew who’s it was.

“Alisa!” I dashed towards the direction of the scream. Gaster groaned, and quickly followed.

The next minute was panic in mind. She was going to be okay, right? She had to be...

And when I got there, my heart sank. Alisa was facing other monsters, all in armor. The leader, covered in full armor, made from a red-gold material, and given flame designs, a sheathed sword on his waist, and a golden glow behind his helmet.

The Caption of the Royal Guard... I thought. They found her.

“No...” I said under my breath, hiding behind some brush.

“Human,” the Captain called out. “You are wanted by the King. King Asgore Dreemurr.”

“What does he want me for?” Alisa asked.

The Captain’s hand fell to his sword. “...You will see soon enough. Capture her!”

The other guards moved forward, and attempted to grab her... when suddenly...

They stopped as a knife with a bone handle and a glowing blue blade, struck the ground in front of them.

The guard looked up to the angle of the thrown knife. Alice followed their gaze, then me. Upon the cliffs, a cloaked figure stood.

“Let me ask you? Is this what you think is right?” the figure called down.

 _Gaster,_ I thought, _what are you doing?_

“Who are you?” the Captain asked.

“A concerned observer,” Gaster replied. He waved his hand, and three more knives appeared.

Really Gaster, I thought. I know you wanted to explore this magic more, and but you made more knives. Why? Do you hate me?

“Sir, please. Cease and desist. This is for the good of all monsterkind.”

“Is that how you keep your conscious clear?”

The Captain seemed to tremble for a bit. But before I could think anything of it, he drew his sword, and swung it, releasing a wave of fire towards Gaster.

Gaster quickly jumped down the cliff, avoiding the attack. I audibly gasped, which unfortunately attracted the attention of the guards. They turned their heads towards me. But Gaster distracted them. He dashed towards them, but the Captain got in his way. As the two them began fighting, Alisa tried to get away, but the other guards noticed this and intercepted, capturing her.

“NO!” I screamed. I was going to chase after them, but suddenly, Gaster was in front of me. When he heard me scream, he split off of his battle, and came to stop me.

“Chara, no,” he said quietly.

“I have to save her!”

“I know you want to... but, I... I can’t lose you, too.”

I just watched in tears, as the Captain, who was looking at where Gaster ran off to, shook it off, and ordered the guards to take Alisa away.

* * *

Gaster had gone to the capital to see what was going to happen with Alisa. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, he could save her, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. By the time he got there, it would be too late. ...The first Soul Asgore needed to break the barrier...

I spent the next few days in the house, depressed, crying. I could have saved her... why... why did Gaster have to stop me...

Pristina and Hapi had arrived at Semi’s request, to try and comfort me...

“So, this girl was taken by the guard?” Hapi asked.

I nodded, grabbing another tissue.

“And Pristina,” Hapi said turning to her, “you knew about this girl? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Pristina was staring out the window. “Chara, can I ask you something?”

I looked up. “...What...?”

“...So, Asgore just got the first human Soul, right?”

“Yeah, I heard about that. I guess the rumors about the human princess were wrong. Still, I wonder happened to her-” Hapi replied, but Pristina interrupted.

“Hapi, sorry, but I need to hear Chara’s response. So, Chara, this girl, Alisa, is she... is she the same girl?”

“Pristina, I-” I wanted to ask her to drop the subject, but I knew I couldn’t do that. Not this point. “...Yes.”

“Wait. That would mean...” Hapi started.

“The girl was human,” Pristina finished.

“So, you met a human, Chara. Was she as scary as they say they are?”

“Hapi, that’s not it. You didn’t see her.”

I knew what she was referring to. I knew was had figured it out. I got up, and summoned a fireball in my hand.

“Wait, Chara, darling what are you doing?” Hapi freaked out.

“What are you going to do?” I asked Pristina.

“Chara, please-” she started.

“I’m not going back. I’m not...” my tears started to intensify.

“Chara, I don’t want to lose my friend. Just... tell us the truth.”

My head dropped. “...I... don’t want to lose my friend, too...” I dispelled my flames. “...I... I... I am human.”

Hapi flew back, shocked. “What, but I thought- You said you were a monster. A homo-sapien, right?”

“You know, that is only another way to say ‘human’. It’s the scientific term.”

“Chara... why didn’t you tell us?” Pristina asked.

I sniffed. “Why do you think. When Asriel died, and Asgore declared his war on humanity... I had to hide.”

“Where were you before then?”

“...The capital. ...No, actually... The castle...”

“Wait, what?” Hapi replied. “Wouldn’t that mean that you’re-”

“The first human. The princess. ...Asriel’s sister...”

I fell to my knees and started crying again.

“Pristina...” Hapi said.

“We have to help her,” Pristina said. “She’s our friend.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and Gaster walked in. “Chara.”

I looked up. “Wingding?”

He looked away. “...I saw the execution. I’m sorry...”

“...I could have saved her...”

“I already told you, I couldn’t lose you, too...” He looked back towards me. “But I want to make it right. Come with me.”

Gaster brought us into the kitchen, and pulled out a set of blueprints. Semi was in the room, and walked over, curious about what was going on.

“What is this, son?” he asked.

“The draft of the generator Asgore asked me for,” Gaster replied. “And I’ve been thinking, what if we could do more with this.”

“What do you mean?” Pristina asked.

“This generator will create large amounts of magic energy. What if you can channel that into a spell?”

“What spell?” I asked.

Gaster smiled. “Did you know that powerful monsters, especially skilled skeletons, can learn how to teleport. What if we used this generator to cast the spell on a larger scale?”

“Where... are you going with this?”

“I intend to use this generator to create a portal... straight to the surface.”

For the rest of us, our mouths drop. “Are you serious!?”

Gaster nodded. “It will not be easy. It will take time, and much experimentation, and it will have to handled carefully. But... with some help, I think I pull it off...” He looked over to me. “There will be no need to take any more human Souls. And if we can convince the king to stop this war... This cycle of violence... can end.”

That lifted my spirits. No one could understand how happy I was by this. I nodded, and said, “then let’s do it.”

“So... Chara won’t have to go away?” Pristina asked.

Gaster gave me a confused look.

“We have something we need to talk about,” I told him.

“Well, that will have to wait,” he replied, “I need to finish these plans by the end of the week. That’s the deadline.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry, we can do this.”

Hapi, who was quiet until now, said, “you know what, this ‘generator’ needs a better name.”

* * *

With his plans finished, Gaster was now ready to speak to Asgore.

When he walked into his throne room, he found Asgore watering flowers in his massive flower garden surrounding his throne.

“Your majesty,” Gaster called out, “I’m back. I have the completed plans.”

“Oh, well, let me finish watering these flowers.” Asgore finished up and turned to face Gaster. “Ah, yes, W.D. Gaster. Please, Asgore is just fine.”

“Of course. Quite the lovely garden you have.”

“Yes, they all started growing after... sorry, it’s difficult to talk about.”

“You must take great care of them.”

“Of course! Now, may I see these plans of yours.”

Gaster unrolled his blueprints and showed them to Asgore. “Based on my estimations, we’ll need to build it in a centralized location of the Underground, where everyone will be in relative equal distance to receive the power. I was considering right below the capital, on the edge of Hotland.

Asgore took a close look at the blueprints. “‘Central Optimal Reactor?’ Is that what you’re going to call it?”

“Yes, though I call the ‘CORE’ for short.”

“I see. So, does this mean you accept my offer.”

“Yes, I do. I’ll need builders who can work with metal materials and sensitive technology, and some assistant scientists to help me with the experimentation. This project will need time to finish, to make sure nothing will go wrong. A cooling system will need to be made. Also, I’ll need a personal lab, for any side projects I may wish to start. I am your royal scientist now, after all.”

“...Yes, of course. I’ll be sure to provide everything you need, at your discretion.”

“Thank you,” Gaster replied, before turning away and walked back out. Though just as reached the door, he stopped and turned back towards Asgore. “Oh, and I must thank you... for allowing me to preserve the human body. That is my first intended subject for experimentation.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is the end of Act 2! And a longer chapter because of it! And after some thought, the "Act 3" I had planned with now be split into two Acts, so the next Act will be much shorter than the previous two Acts (three chapters, in fact). And it will end on the big story moment.
> 
> Now for the chapter itself, I wanted to add that first human that fell into the Underground after Chara, which to me, would seem to be the patience kid, due to her items (the Faded Ribbon and the Toy Knife) appearing first, which are in the Ruins. And since she way past the Ruins now, she doesn't have her items (you decide how she lost them). I also wanted to play up the idea that, because she is so young, thinks this is Wonderland, because I always drew the parallels to Undertale and Alice in Wonderland, a kid falls in this strange world and has an adventure.
> 
> Though I should say, the whole story outline has been planned for a long time, because now that Deltarune is out, those parallels seem stronger with that game, due to the playing card theme (club, heart, diamond, spade, that kind of thing). Also, with Deltarune out, it's going to be so weird writing this story, later on, particularly the Undertale's own Deltarune prophecy (yeah, did you forget about that?). Also, I currently have no plans to add the PS4 / Switch exclusive content or Deltarune content into my story, especially Deltarune, since Toby Fox confirmed that it is a separate universe from Undertale, but that may change later, since this is an AU, if I can find a way to make it work in this story (but probably not in the main story, Book 2).


	19. Chat with an Old Friend

Now, we come closer to the end of my story. The last few years leading up to my fall...

* * *

It’s been two years since Gaster started work on the CORE. Now it was halfway finished.

I was now 18, and according to Gaster, that would make me an adult on the surface. Not that I looked like an adult. This whole time, I hadn’t grown much at all. I was still below five feet in height (four feet, eleven inches, to be exact), and looked like a twelve or thirteen year old. Augh, why couldn’t I just get a couple more inches?

To make up for it, I tried to look a little more mature by keeping my hair short. I also changed my outfit again. I went back to wearing a green sweater with a yellow stripe, and brown cargo shorts, though now I wore black tights under them, to help keep me warm in the cold weather of Waterfall, and I still had my boots with the fuzzy white top hem and white puffs on the shoelace ends. Hey, if they still fit at least, then I’ll keep on wearing them, and performing magic on them to keep them in good condition.

I was walking around Hotland, alone, looking out in the distance, where the CORE was in full. Thanks to my mastery of fire magic, the heat didn’t bother me as much. I could even wear a thick winter coat in this magma filled area, and I wouldn’t even sweat a bit.

I stopped to take a break, sitting down on the edge of the cliff. “Soon,” I said, looking at the CORE, “soon I can see the surface again.”

But then I thought, what is there for me on the surface? I would never go back to my family on the surface. And the Dreemurrs... Asgore is just as bad. He betrayed me, betrayed my trust. Could I really...

He once called me the hope of both humans and monsters. This is what he wanted, right? For monsters to be free. But we had to it with the CORE, we had to make this teleporter work. We couldn’t let Asgore hurt any more humans.

We had decided to keep the true purpose of the CORE a secret from the King. Well, that’s what I wanted. Gaster felt it wouldn’t be a problem to reveal our true intentions. Asgore was the kind of person who would agree to the plan, regardless of the risks, and the kingdom would probably be desperate enough to do anything to be free. And it’s not like this would put me at any more risk of discovery.

But I felt if we were going to do this, then we (well, I, more accurately) didn’t want recognition from Asgore until it was done. Gaster agreed, and we kept it on the down-low. The assistants Gaster and Asgore hired were sworn to secrecy by Gaster, and the workers building the structure... well what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

Anyways, I just sat there, thinking about my old families, the Dreemurrs especially. Besides my problems with Asgore, Toriel had disappeared without a trace, and... well, I guess it would be too painful to go home, when I knew Asriel wouldn’t be waiting for me there. Only a dusty flower.

“Enjoying the view?” I heard someone say. I looked over... and saw the Captain.

I quickly got up and summoned a fireball. “You!”

The Captain stepped back. “Well now, you’re a little aggressive.”

“Yeah! For good reason!” I retorted.

“Oh, of course.” The Captain drew his sword. I saw a fight coming, but then... he stabbed his sword into the ground, and left it there as he walked up to me. “I don’t want to fight.”

I staggered a bit, but held firm. “You sure?”

“Yes,” the Captain then took off his helmet. Underneath was a head of golden flame, with white dots for eyes. A Fire Elemental, but not just any Fire Elemental...

“Girard?” I said, surprised. “You’re the Captain.”

Girard chuckled softly. “I’ve always been the Captain. It’s just that... I didn’t have so many duties back then. So when you... and the prince...”

“I... get it. It’s hard for me to talk about it too...” I said, dispelling my fire. You see, the thing is, Girard was our babysitter. Occasionally, Asgore and Toriel would need to head out for important political business, so Girard would watch us. “I miss those times.”

“Heh, well, you don’t need me to watch you now, I’d imagine. You’ve grown up, even if... well.”

“If I don’t look like it?”

“...Yes.”

“Yeah. Don’t mention my height again.”

Girard’s gaze fell to the lava below. “That child... the first human... I still think about her.”

I gripped my hand into a fist. “What of it!?”

“I... regret taking her to the king. She was so innocent. She didn’t deserve her fate.” Girard sat down over the cliffside. “I think the king regrets it too. But he feels that he must do it, to bring hope to the kingdom.”

I calmed down, and sat down next to him. “I thought I was that hope.”

“Chara... I don’t think he wants to kill you...” Girard told me. “He misses you. He misses his family. He’s alone.”

I sighed. “Asgore... he’s already gone too far. He’s killed one of my kind. I can’t go back! He doesn’t deserve... I... augh!”

Girard chuckled.

“What? What is it?” I asked.

“Oh, nothing,” he replied. “Chara, listen. I have a son now. He... was that child’s age when she fell. Seeing her die... was hard on me. What if that happened to...” He leaned forward. “I’m old. I don’t know if I can handle this anymore...”

“What are you going to do?”

“I... wish to retire soon, within the next few years, to take care of my family. I don’t wish to be part of this cycle of violence any longer. But... I worry about what will happen when I leave. Things will have to change.”

“I guess...” I was kind of sad now. Girard would be going away? I’m mean, I knew he’d still be around, but... “things ARE changing.”

Girard got up. “Yes. ...I don’t know why, but I feel you too have something planned for the future, and a fast-approaching, unavoidable fate. Whatever that is, I will not stop you. I promise you, Asgore will not hear about you.” He sighed. “But Chara... please know that Asgore is still your family. You are his beloved daughter, and he does not wish harm onto you. Remember this.”

“...I will,” I said, but I didn’t believe it. Asgore has changed. I’ve changed. We could never go back to how it was before.

“I must leave. I can’t be seen with you...” Girard grabbed his sword and sheathed it. “This is goodbye, Chara. Perhaps forever.”

That sounded foreboding. Did he not intend to find me again, when he was no longer in the Royal Guard? I mean, I guess I wasn’t telling him where I was living, ...well, hiding really. And I didn’t know where he lived, either. But still...

“...Thanks for chatting with me,” I told him. “It was good to see you again...”

“You’ll find you’re path soon Chara. Just believe in yourself,” he replied.

And then he walked away. I got up and started heading back to the CORE to meet with Gaster. If the captain could find me, anyone else in the Guard could, and I couldn’t let that happen.

Still, it was nice to talk to an old friend. But, what did he mean by “unavoidable fate”. I guess only time will tell...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To start off the first of the three chapters of Act 3, we have an EXTREMELY short chapter (which I think is good, considering the length of the last chapter), where Chara talks with the current Captain of the Royal Guard (so, not Undyne). If you remember from the last chapter, she had a run in with the Captain, and it didn't end well. Well now, he is in regret of what he's done. And he's an old friend of Chara's, too. Don't expect to see any more of him, though. You'll see why soon.


	20. Incident

Over a year had passed since speaking with Girard. Gaster, now 22, had run out of space in the lab provided, so Gaster commissioned to have more lab built deep under Hotland. It even was planned to have a second exit leading into the CORE. Since then, for the past few years, Gaster has been performing experiment after experiment on the side while working on the CORE. ...Or visiting his wife.

Yes, Gaster had recently married Pristina. She had succeeded in romancing him. Though, she still was close friends with me.

Anyways, Gaster says within a few weeks we may be able to start the first major tests to the CORE’s teleportation functions. The Surface would soon be in reach. And good timing too, as this first test would happen around my 20th birthday.

I was talking with Gaster about our plans for the coming test, what we would need to do for that. Gaster had changed his preferred outfit to be more fitting for his new job, a gray long coat over a white-collar shirt and black pants, with black loathers. More sophisticated, and more mature. Just what he needed, and wanted.

“It is important that we check all of the stabilizers, or else the CORE-” Gaster was explaining to me, before we were interrupted by one of his assistants, who was running up to us.

I wasn’t too worried about another monster seeing me. I usually wore my hood to keep my face hidden while inside Gaster’s lab or the CORE, so monsters couldn’t see my face very well, unless I looked straight at them, and even then, Gaster assured me that none of his assistants knew what a human looked like, and only his assistants were allowed to speak with him outside of construction time.

This assistant was a small lizard monster with no arms, wearing a white lab coat. Her name, Lizzie. I really felt understood this monster, because like me, she was much smaller than her actual age. It might have been a monster thing for her, but still, it frustrated us both. I think it might have been part of the reason Gaster choose her as an assistant.

“Doctor Gaster,” Lizzie panted, “Asgore has delivered a message.”

“Yes,” Gaster replied, “tell me.”

“He has accepted your request to harvest the human Soul for... whatever you needed it for. He just wanted to remind you to try not to destroy it. It’s the only one we have.”

Gaster froze for a second, before telling Lizzie, “yes. Thank you. Now, I feel I must to talk to-”

“Wingding,” I interrupted. “What about the human Soul?” As time has gone on, me using Gaster’s real name in public meant that I had something I had to tell him, and that it was serious.

“Please, return to your duties, Lizzie. I must talk to Chara alone,” Gaster told her.

“O-okay,” Lizzie replied. She turned to me, and said, “good to see you, Chara,” before running off.

I turned to Gaster. “You’re going to harvest the human Soul. Alisa’s Soul!”

“Chara, listen,” Gaster exclaimed, “it’s been three, almost four years since Alisa... since her Soul was taken. She’s not coming back. And her soul still has its uses. I’ve been studying-”

“NO!” I interrupted him. “How could you do this! She... she is still in there. The Soul is the culmination of everything you are, right? You preserved her Soul, so she is still alive, in spirit, at least. And you’re going to experiment on her!”

“Chara, I-”

Before he could say anything, I walked away. Alisa was innocent, she didn’t deserve this. Why would he do this? Doesn’t he care?

As I left, I didn’t see Gaster still standing there, alone. He took a deep breath, and then an angry grunt, he punched the wall.

* * *

Chara hadn’t talked to Gaster for the next few days. He was frustrated that she couldn’t understand how this research might help monsters in the future. There was nothing harmful about it. The body was dead. It was just a Soul.

...Then again, maybe she had a point. But still, to Gaster, he had to make her sacrifice mean something. This energy could be used to power the CORE’s true function.

Gaster was sitting alone, thinking about this, when he heard a knock on his lab door. “Come in.”

The door opened, and Asgore walked in. “Howdy, Gaster.”

Gaster got up. “Asgore. Good to see you. Did you get my message?”

“Yes, you wanted me to see your extractor.”

Gaster nodded and led him to the elevator leading into his deeper lab.

On while elevator, Asgore asked, “so, you were planning to do with the Soul.”

“Well,” Gaster replied, “As I was studying the Soul, I found that it was not so different from our own. Yes, it is true, it is much more powerful from monster Souls. About around a thousand times, by my estimate. But like our Souls, they contain at least a small amount of each trait. Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, and of course, Determination.”

“Also,” Gaster continued, as the elevator door opened, and he began leading Asgore into the lower labs, “I have found that Souls can... restore themselves to their original form, if damaged, should they find the will. I have reconfigured the human Soul’s containment capsule to emulate these effects, help the Soul retain itself, and keep it from fading away.”

“Where are you going with this?” Asgore asked.

“If you remember, I asked to be able to ‘harvest’ the Soul. In actuality, I intend to extract these traits from the Soul into a liquid form, where they can be studied, or used as energy. The strongest of which, as I have found... is Determination. And then, with my new configuration on the capsule, the Soul should restore itself in time, regain the traits they lost. As long as this is handled correctly, they can provide an alternative, infinite source of energy.”

“Aw, I see. Do you think this can be done?” Asgore replied.

“It’s all theoretical right now. I would approach this with caution, until we know for sure, or else we lose our only current Soul. Now come, let me show you.”

Gaster brought Asgore into a large room, with a large skull-like machine hanging over a pit. The skull resembled the top of an animal skull, with two tusks protruding from it. There were four large wires connected to the top of the skull, and held in place by metal bracers, and then there were two more wires connected at the sides of the top of the skulls to tusks.

“I call this the DT Extractor. With this, I can harvest Determination from a Soul. Our research can reach new heights with this.” Gaster turned to the next room. “Lizzie! Is the capsule ready!?”

“Yes!” the assistant yelled. She then pulled the Soul capsule in on a cart. “The experiment is ready to start at your command, Doctor!”

“Thank you, ready the logs for recording, title: Entry #16.” Gaster turned back to Asgore. “Please come over to the control console, Asgore. You may want to stay out of the way from the front of the machine, as it may attempt to Extract from your Soul, and as a monster, that could be fatal.”

“Oh, of course,” Asgore replied, following Gaster to the console.

The console was a screen built into the wall. Gaster pressed a button on the corner of the screen, and a keyboard popped out beneath it. The Extractor’s command computer booted up.

Gaster then input a few commands. A grating rose up on one side of the capsule as the glass opened up where the grating was. “That will keep the Soul from escaping during the Extraction process,” Gaster assured the King. “Now, observe.”

Gaster then input another command, and the Extractor powered up. A few seconds after it fully powered up, a stream of red began being pulled from the Soul in the Extractor.

“We’re going to keep this at a steady stream for the first test,” Gaster said, watching the readings on the screen. “In a few minutes, we should have a full canister of liquid Determination.”

Asgore looked under the Extractor, and could, in fact, see a glass container, being slowly filled by a red liquid, drop by drop.

“Amazing...” Asgore replied in awe.

Gaster said, “This is what science is capable of, your majesty. And soon, we may-”

“Wingding!?” a voice called out from the room Gaster and Asgore came from.

Gaster cursed under his breath. It was Chara’s voice...

Asgore didn’t say anything, but he did get a confused look on his face. He hadn’t see Chara seen she was ten, so he probably didn’t recognize her adult voice, but he seemed to recognize something.

“I wanted to talk to you... about the Soul. I realized that maybe... I... reacted-”

Chara walked into the room... just as Asgore stepped back to see who the new company was.

Chara's eyes went wide, as she stepped back. Asgore also had a look of surprise, but instead stood there for a few seconds, before taking a small step forward. “Chara?”

Chara responded with, “you...” A red flame appeared in her hand.

Asgore's head fell. “I’m sorry...”

“Enjoying torturing humans?” Chara replied angrily.

“Chara... please understand, I-”

“NO!” Chara interrupted. “You abandoned me! Killed one of my own kind! And now, this! I... I...”

“Chara, please come back. We can be a family again.”

Chara stopped at that. “What... d- Asgore... why...”

“Please...” Asgore said, starting to approach.

Gaster was too focused on the unintended meeting to realize this approach was putting Asgore right in the path of the Extractor, the one thing Gaster had warned him not to do. Gaster realized this too late, and before he could warn him about it... Asgore stepped into the extraction stream.

He was suddenly pulled towards the Extractor, and the pit it hangover. His Soul was pulled out of his body, and he was straining to have it not forcefully separated from his body.

“ASGORE!” Gaster cried out. He began working on shutting down the Extractor, but he knew it would need time to wind down, and by then, it might be too late. He would have to take action himself.

Or so he thought. But once he had set the Extractor into its shut off sequence, he turned to find Chara already taking that action, using a Skeleton spell he had taught her when they were younger. She raised her hand, and Asgore’s Soul began to glow blue. She pushed her hand forward, and Asgore was pushed out of the Extractor stream.

Gaster ran to check on Asgore. Luckily, he was fine, mostly. At the very least, he was alive. But a piece of his Soul was broken off, likely still in the Extractor.

Gaster began using healing magic on him regardless, hoping to remedy any unseen injuries. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Asgore replied. But he wasn’t paying attention to him...

Chara just stood there, breathing heavily. The level magic energy she had used must have been intense, in order to pull Asgore out of the Extractor’s grip.

“Chara...” Asgore said.

“No...” Chara said, tears in her eyes. She then turned and left.

The Extractor had fully shut down, the stream no longer separating them. But... Asgore didn’t chase after Chara.

Gaster stared down the hall Chara left through. “I’m sorry, I need to leave now. We’ll... talk about this later.”

Gaster then followed Chara, Asgore not uttering a word.

* * *

I couldn’t believe it. He saw me... Asgore saw me.

Did he really believe we could be a family again? Why? Why did he think he deserved that? He...

He should’ve been grateful I saved his life. Because I wasn’t going back. He didn’t deserve my love.

I ran to the exit elevator before breaking down. Why did this matter so much to me? Why did I need him alive?

“Chara,” I heard behind me. I looked back and saw Gaster. “I’m sorry, I should’ve warned you that Asgore would be here.”

“I... no, it’s not your fault. The way I reacted... if I hadn’t stopped talking to you, then you could’ve told me. It’s my fault,” I told him.

Gaster looked back. “You wanted to talk to about the Souls.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry, you were right... or we both were. It is the Soul of a person, but that person is gone. There no coming back for her. And besides, it’s just a human Soul.”

But as I said that, it hurt. But again, why do I care so much. Humans... humans were despicable. She may have been a kid, but...

Gaster looked back. “I will need to talk to Asgore about this. And address...”

“You don’t know what to do, do you?”

Gaster was quiet for a moment. “For once... yes. This is the worst-case scenario. But knowing Asgore, he might ignore this. If not... I heard the Ruins are abandoned. We might be able to sneak you in there.”

“...No. Talk to him, convince him to leave OUR family alone. I don’t want to see him again.”

* * *

The next day, Gaster arrived back at Asgore’s throne room, following some tests regarding the incident.

Asgore was sitting on the throne, in silent contemplation. Once he saw Gaster, he addressed him, “W.D. Gaster.”

“King Asgore,” Gaster addressed back. “I had found the small piece of your Soul that was broken off by the Extractor. The machine had preserved the fragment in the liquid DT, keeping it from shattering and disappearing, as it should of.”

“What are you going to do with it.”

“Well... return it to you. You Soul is incomplete. As I mentioned, your Soul can heal on its own, and replace the missing section. But still, it will help-”

“I’m sure you can find some use for it.” Asgore sighed. “That is not what’s on my mind at the moment.”

“You want to talk about Chara.”

“...Yes.”

“Listen, regarding her... she does not want you interfering in her life. Nor does she wish to see you again.”

“Of course. I understand. Why would she? After all, I scared her away. I abandoned her.”

“Asgore, don’t feel sorry for you're...” Gaster stopped himself.

“Gaster?”

“Listen, you are my friend. But so is Chara. I understand that I am essentially playing for two teams, so to speak. She does too. But it is not an easy task... and should I have to pick a side...” Gaster let his eyes glow their red and purple colors. “I care for my family more than you, understand” he threatened.

“Yes... of course.” Asgore looked to the side. “...Chara’s birthday to coming up soon. You know this right.”

“I do.”

“Please... get her something nice. She’s always had a fondness for chocolate. Gardening, playing piano, cooking, those are hobbies of hers. She might appreciate something related to those as well.”

Gaster turned around to leave. “Yes, thank you for informing me.” He already knew these things, but still, it sent him a clear message. Asgore still cared. Chara just couldn’t see it.

But she was right to despise him, after what he’s done. If this project succeeded, could their relationship be repaired?

Gaster left, these thoughts stuck in his mind. Still, they seemed to be able to get out of this situation okay.

Little did he know, this was not the worst-case scenario.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've introduced the DT Extractor. If you ask "why", good question. I can't say now, but there is more to this chapter then just the Extractor, but it will become more important in the next book. But I can talk about things for this book, at least with subtlety.
> 
> Yes, the big moment is going to be the next chapter. And Gaster mentioned he was going to follow up on the experiment with "Entry #16". Now think about it, what is Gaster's most recognizable detail in the secrets of Undertale? I want to bring this up, just in case you didn't notice (but if you did, great! You've got a good eye).


	21. The Fall

“I want every checkup completed before we start. Come on, move it, people, we need this done in the next hour or two!”

Gaster was getting everyone ready for the first major test of the CORE. To be able to make a portal to the Surface... this is what we have been working towards this entire time. And finally, we were making the first major step to being able to actually do that.

I wasn’t going to miss this, so I was in the CORE, alongside Gaster. It was risky, with all the extra monsters around, making everything was working properly, but as long I was with Gaster, I knew I should be okay. He usually gave orders to the other workers from a higher area, over an intercom, where he could see more of the CORE’s interior, so I would be harder to see.

The two of us still hadn’t gotten over what happened a few weeks ago. Gaster had told me that Asgore wouldn’t be joining us for the test, as he was still recovering from the incident. To me, that was great. I didn’t want to see him again.

I could hear the sounds of machinery moving, and people yelling orders to each other. I knew that Gaster had made the CORE to be able to transform its internal layout, as without it, it would take days, even weeks to reroute everything should it have needed it.

Gaster turned back to me. “Are you doing okay, Chara?”

“Yeah... I... just never thought I’d see the day. Soon, we can avoid all the killing.”

“Yes. ...Chara, I wanted to apologize for the human Soul. I knew she meant a lot to you, even you don’t understand why. I should’ve come and talked to you about it first.”

“...I... It’s okay. I overreacted. Right now, let’s focus on stopping this from happening again.”

“Of course. Oh, and Chara.” Gaster came up, and gave me a hug. “Happy birthday!”

I smiled, and returned the hug. It wasn’t something Gaster gave out often. “Thank you!”

At that point, Lizzie walked in. “Gaster, it’s time. All checks have been finished. All they need is your final say.”

Gaster released me and stepped back, smiling. “Very well. Let’s get started.”

* * *

After Gaster had personally checked that every single internal part of the CORE (which took hours), he had everyone gather in a central open location of the CORE. Gaster stood on a bridge in front of all the CORE workers. I was standing right behind him, along with Lizzie, with about three of his other assistants lined up next to us.

“Today... we bear witness to the first step into a new future!” Gaster exclaimed to everyone present. “Today... we take the first step towards freedom! Towards hope! No longer shall we be trapped within this prison! Nor under the cycle of death that our king has perpetuated! To many of you, this is the first you have heard of this, so you are in for something special!”

He turned to me. “Shall we?”

I stepped forward, and called out, “Let the first test begin!”

There was loud cheering from the group, quickly followed by the shuffling of movement as they all dispersed towards to safe viewing areas, or to their important positions for those with necessary tasks in starting up the CORE.

Gaster, I, and the rest of us moved up to a private viewing platform. Shortly before we reached our position, we could hear the humming of machinery starting up, getting louder and louder as the CORE powered up for its true purpose.

As reached our perch, we could see many large mechanical arms, with large spheres on the ends, rising up from below the CORE, shifting into a position where they were pointing towards each other in an X formation.

“This is it, Chara,” Gaster told me. “The first step towards freedom. ...Out of curiosity, are excited to see the Surface again?”

“Wingding... I... you know I don’t like humans,” I replied.

“Not humans. I mean the surface itself. I’ve only heard stories about the Surface, from those who passed them down generation to generation, or from those few monsters with extended lifespans that still are alive today. Your... early years were spent on the surface, correct?”

“You know they weren’t pleasant years.”

“Yes, but you still were around the beauty of the Surface, or so I have heard.”

“That... that was so long ago. I don’t remember it very well. But... I do remember the blue sky. Some days, it was clear, others there would be clouds. And at night, you could see stars against the dark sky. It’s... really beautiful.”

“I see... Well, Chara, I can’t wait to see this.”

As our conversation came to an end, the four spheres began to power on, charging up with black energy.

“It’s starting,” Gaster exclaimed.

Then the energy shot towards each other, fusing into a sphere of black, dark blue, and purple energy. The sphere grew as the energy poured in, until it shot a pillar of the same dark energy onto the floor below.

“It’s the rift,” Gaster said. “We’ve actually made a rift. With a little more time and some refinement, we can make this portal. The surface awaits.”

I smiled with joy. I could go home. We wouldn’t need another human to die. This was perfect.

...So of course, that’s when everything went wrong.

Suddenly, something behind the rift-making mechanical arms shuttered. Before anyone could react, it exploded it a large burst of fire. It collided into one of the arms, causing it to collapse. Without its full stabilization, the rift began to collapse. The dark pillar sputtered out of existence, as the sphere of energy quickly changed from black to white.

Our friends on the viewing platform quickly began freaking out as this was happening. I would’ve too, if it weren’t for Gaster and his quick thinking. He suddenly pulled me into a protective embrace, his tall frame covering my small one, his back to the sphere. While I could barely see around him, I saw numerous bones shoot out of the ground, more than I could count, and more than I think I’ve ever seen Gaster summon, as they created a dome-like wall, separating us from the rift as it burst into pure light, engulfing us all.

Gaster and I were pushed back, as I heard that tearing of metal, and screaming from the others that soon faded into silence.

The light faded, and we found ourselves alone on that platform. Much of the structure around the was in tattered, parts of the machinery torn up. Even the railing that was around the platform was torn off. The bone wall Gaster conjured up was now shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, which were now turning into dust as they lost their magic power.

“Where... where is everyone?” I asked, still unnerved.

Gaster looked around. “The blast from the rift... It must’ve... pushed them off. We... you and I... we might have been to if I hadn’t acted as I did...”

I just sat there stunned. The assistants... Lizzie... they were... they were just gone? No... they couldn’t have.

Another explosion tore through the CORE. Gaster got up, and tried to pull me up with him. “Something must’ve overloaded in the CORE. And I think it isn’t over. Whether or not the rift’s explosion caused it to become worse, the CORE is about to suffer a complete meltdown.”

I let Gaster pull me up, and said, “then we need to go. Now!”

Gaster nodded, and the two of us ran off.

The CORE was blowing up around us. We more than once had to weave in between fallen debris and support beams. We couldn’t see them, but we could hear the screams of other monsters, hopefully trying to get out. But right now, we had to focus on ourselves.

Soon, we managed to get on the last bridge leading out of the CORE. Wasting no time, we quickly started running across... unfortunately, not knowing what was about to happen.

As we ran across, something below us blew up, rocking the bridge, causing it to lean to the side. This knocked me off my feet, but it was worse for Gaster. Unprepared for the sudden shift in the ground, he fell off the side.

Reacting as fast as I could, I managed to use my blue magic to grab Gaster and levitate him over the pit under the CORE. But in trying to do this, I had slid off the edge of the bridge, and was hanging off of the side.

“Chara, are you okay?” Gaster called up. But I didn’t answer...

I just stared down the pit. Knowing what would happen if I fell, my fear of heights took over. By instinct, I held onto the bar on the bridge, my knuckles white in fear. I could’ve pulled Gaster up to safety, but I was too scared of falling.

“Chara, it’s okay. I won’t let you fall. I promise,” Gaster said, trying to comfort me.

“O-okay,” I replied. I tried to focus, and attempted to pull Gaster up. Within the next minute, I was able to levitate Gaster high enough from him to grab onto the side of bridge, and pull himself up.

First taking a moment to find his balance on the slanted bridge, Gaster then said, “Okay, I am going to come over, and pull you up. It’s going to be okay...” He made his way over a quick and safely as he could, and knelt down to grab my hand. “Come on, Chara, just raise your other hand, and grab mine.”

“Okay, Wingding,” I told him, and I tried lifting up my free hand. I was still terrified, too much so to do it quickly. And that... becoming victim to my own fears... is what led to my downfall.

The bar I was holding onto snapped, and quickly broke off. I quickly tried to grab Gaster’s hand, but missed. I could see Gaster attempting to use his blue magic, like I did for him, but he wasn’t quick enough, and I fell out of his range.

I could only stare up at him, tears in my eyes, as I fell to my demise... If only I knew... the fate I was about to suffer, was worse than death...

* * *

Gaster watched in horror as Chara fell out of his reach. He promised her... he promised he’d keep her safe... And he failed.

Another part of the CORE burst open in flames, shaking Gaster back into reality long enough for him to make his escape out of the CORE.

Hours passed, as he and a few others made sure that the rest of the monsters got out alive.

Luckily, the CORE’s structure didn’t completely collapse. He would be able to repair the damages, and finish the project. This was not a huge set back in the CORE’s completion. But that didn’t matter to him.

Chara was lost. Along with many others. Monsters had died in the meltdown. Chara, Lizzie, and the other assistants. Many of the construction workers, who all had families. All those deaths... would weigh on him for the rest of his life.

Asgore was responsible for one death, more to come if he continued to slay any human that would fall down here. But more deaths were on Gaster’s hands.

His head hung low, he thought to himself, _should I tell him? Should I tell Asgore that his daughter is gone?_

He turned towards the other monsters trying to recover from the CORE’s meltdown. “I must go speak with the king.”

The monsters who were better practiced with healing magic nodded towards him, and he made his leave.

Gaster found the king already on his way to the CORE. “Dr. Gaster! I was in my throne room, when I felt a shock wave of... something, and then there was an earthquake. I’ve been spending the last few hours trying to help calm down the denizens of New Home. Who knows what the rest of Underground is going through.”

Gaster had been so focused on what was happening in the CORE itself, he hadn’t considered how it would have affected the rest of the Underground.

“Are they alright?” Gaster asked.

“Oh, yes, thank goodness for that,” Asgore replied.

“Yes, it’s good to hear that. The CORE... when we began the first major test, something overloaded, and the generator suffered a meltdown.”

“Oh dear, is everyone okay? Can the project be recovered?”

“Yes, I believe we can fix the damage and finish the project, but completion will be delayed for an extended period of time. Perhaps another year or two. But as for those in the CORE... I think most got out, but many are injured. And some monsters were lost.”

“...Oh...” Asgore’s head fell. “Can we find their dust?”

“Not likely...” Gaster felt a pain in his soul, as he knew what he had to say next. “Asgore, I’m sorry, but... Chara...”

Asgore looked up at Gaster. “Chara?”

“She... she was one of those... lost... I’m so sorry...”

Asgore's expression... was not one Gaster expected. It was a look of confusion. Then he said, “why are you apologizing to me about this? Was she someone close to you?”

Gaster was shocked by this. “My king, she... she was your daughter. Chara Dreemurr. You know that, right?”

“I...” Asgore stopped to think for a moment. “I’ve never had a daughter. I’ve only had one child, and he... committed suicide over a decade ago.”

“What... I...” Gaster tried to correct him. This must have been some kind of prank. But then he realized that Asgore was truly distressed talking about his lost son again. This was not the time to berate him. “...I’d... like to find my family. They must be so worried. Can you see to the survivors?”

Asgore took a few seconds to process what Gaster said to him. “...Oh, yes, of course. They must be very worried. Go, I’ll handle the rest.”

Gaster nodded in response and quickly left. He made his way back down through Hotland and towards his home in Waterfall.

His father, Semi, was outside, checking around the house.

“Father,” Gaster called out.

“Ah, Wingding,” Semi replied, raising his head up. “There was a quake a while ago. I was just checking to make sure the house is still stable. You’ve been gone for the past few days. Your wife wanted to tell you something.”

Gaster nodded. Of course, she was likely incredibly worried about him.

“Yes, that quake. That may have been... my fault. I’ll tell you about it later,” Gaster replied.

Semi seemed a little surprised by this, but nodded. “I suppose it’s not easy, being the only scientist working on that CORE thing.”

Gaster was taken aback by this. “Father, you know I have assistants. I’ve told you about them. You’ve even met Lizzie.”

“I... don’t recall this. I didn’t know you had assistants.”

“Father... what-” then Gaster stopped, thinking about how Asgore seemed to forget about Chara. His assistants disappeared in the rift’s blast, and then Chara fell into the CORE... “I must talk to Pristina.”

“Yes, she is inside, in that, ah...” Semi ends up lost in thought. “I’m not sure what that room-”

“Yes, yes, father.” Gaster quickly brushed him off, and ran to find Pristina.

He found Pristina in Chara’s room, staring at some old photos.

“Pristina,” he called out.

She quickly turned around. “Wingding!” She cried out. Ran and pulled Gaster into a hug. “You’re back! I have something to tell you!”

“...Yes, I heard, but first, Pristina, do you know who Chara is?”

“Chara... um, it sounds... familiar, but, um... no, I don’t think I’ve met a Chara personally.”

Gaster fell to his knees. Chara wasn’t simply lost. She was forgotten. Somehow her memory was erased from everyone when she fell.

Except for him. He remembered.

Why? Why did this have to happen?

“Wingding? Honey?” Pristina called out, worried. “Are you alright?”

“...No, I’ve just lost everything. Chara, she’s gone. She’s lost, forgotten. I...” Gaster’s voice shook on that last word.

Pristina leaned down and held his hand. “I... don’t know who this Chara is, but... you haven’t lost everything, right?”

“Pristina, you... don’t understand?” But Gaster stopped. Could she? She didn’t remember Chara. Asgore didn’t. Semi probably didn’t. Only Gaster did.

He looked up, and what he saw tore him up inside. It was still Chara’s room. All of her stuff, her books, the Echo Flower she grew in the pot on her desk, the Rubix Cube he gave her. It was her room, unchanged, but without Chara. With no memory of her. It was like an empty echo of what was lost.

But it got worse. He caught a glance at the photos of Chara desk. He got up, and got closer to get a better view of them.

They were photos of Chara with either Gaster, her friends, or both. But Chara was no longer present in them.

“...She’s truly gone. She... she...”

“Gaster... listen... I might know something that could cheer you up,” Pristina spoke up.

Gaster turned to her, crest-fallen. “...Yes.”

“I’m... I’m with child!”

Gaster was quiet for a short while, before managing a smile. “That’s great.” It was his turn to hug his wife. “That’s amazing!”

They let go, and Pristina stepped back. “I can’t wait. A child, Wingding. We’re going to be parents!”

“Yes... Pristina, can I take some time alone. I need to think about this. Don’t get me wrong, this is great! But I need-”

“Don’t worry! I get it! I'll go to start dinner.” She gave a little squeal of excitement and left the room.

Now alone to his thoughts, Gaster peered back at the photos. He was excited to have a child, but he could not forget what he just lost.

Now he realized that the rift they made had erased Chara from the world. And he created that. He knew there would be risks, but never thought it would lead to this.

At that moment, he decided to scrap the rift portal project. He would still finish Asgore’s generator, but only under its originally planned purpose. He promised at least that much. Then, he would end this path. No longer would he follow the path of science.

Once he made this decision, he sat down in Chara’s desk chair. He just lost his closest friend, his best friend, and he couldn’t even give her a proper send-off. Not without her friends, who’ve lost their memories of her.

What would happen if he lost anyone in his life? His father Semi, his wife Pristina?

What would he do then...?

* * *

So that’s my story. Those are the events that lead to my fall. I don’t know how long it has been. Feels like forever. Trapped in this dark, endless plain.

I had a horrible life on the surface, and fell into the Underground, had to good life, until that fell apart. Then, years later, I fell into the Void.

I’ve lost all my friends, my family, and I don’t even know what’s happening in my own world. Do they even remember me?

My life is over, forever trapped in the Void...

...  
...  
...

...Wait...

I heard a sound, like a door opening.

I looked over to where the sound came from, only to see a bright light. It’s been a long time since I’ve since light of any kind, so it hurt to see it, but as I vision adjusted, I could see a white rectangle, like a doorway.

Then a small figure walked through that doorway. At first, it was hard to see, but as it walked forward, I could see... a human. A young girl, maybe eight years old, how old I was when I first fell. She took a good, long look at me, and then got a surprised look on her face as she brought up her hands, and began speaking in sign language, something I hadn’t seen in a long time.

She had signed...

_Mommy?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a bit of a longer chapter, but this one needed it. This is the end of the third act, and now, the next chapter will be the beginning of the end of the first book, the events leading into the second book. The end of the chapter does introduce a new character, and though I haven't described it here yet, I can tell it's someone that you would be familiar with from the game itself.
> 
> Also, I nearly forgot about Gaster and Pristina getting married. I made sure to bring it up now, but I worry it may have been too late considering what my more immediate plans are for the story.


	22. Frisk

I could only stare at this child as she said, well, hand-signed those words. I mean, this was crazy. I thought I’d be alone in the Void forever. But here she was, a young girl, a young HUMAN girl, who can use sign language, and then she uses it to say THAT.

The little eight-year-old girl had dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and was wearing a blue and purple-striped sweater and blue short-jeans, almost like a reflection of what I used to wear (and still kind of do, I guess). She also had a purple backpack slung on her shoulders, and for some reason, was wearing a pink tutu over her jeans, and pink ballet shoes.

The girl, getting a little impatient, signed again, _Mommy, is that really you?_

“I-” tried to say, but then she dashes into me to hug me.

She holds on to me for a few seconds, before pulling back and signing, _Mommy, I’m scared. They’re monsters. Really mean monsters!_

Taking a deep breath, I knelt down and put my hands on her shoulders to stop her. “Okay, can you hear me?”

She nodded.

“Yes, okay. Can you speak?”

She shook her head, then signed, _I’m mute. You remember that, right, mommy?_

Okay, so she was mute. She is unable to speak, so she has to use sign language to communicate. Good to know.

I take in a deep breath, thinking about what to do next. I then take my hands off her, and both say and sign (for her convenience), “Look, I’m sorry, but I’m not your mom. I mean, I’ve never even had kids, and while I am older than I look, how do I look-”

 _You look just like her!_ The kid signed. _Look._ She pulled her backpack off, and reached inside, pulling out an old photograph. She then handed it to me, so I could look at it.

It was a picture of the girl, maybe a little younger than she was now, who seemed to be sitting on the lap of an older woman, whom I guessed was her mother.

To my surprise, she did look a lot like me, except her hair was darker (and longer), her eyes were blue, and, though it was hard to tell, since the lower part of the characters was cut off, but the older woman also seemed to be taller than me... because of course, she is!

But she did look very similar to me, especially in the face. Perhaps it was hard for this girl to tell the difference between me and her. I could also see a lot of resemblance between her and the girl, so I figured I was right in my assumption of them being related.

I handed the photo to the girl, and told her, “I’m sorry, I know I look a lot like her, but I’m not her. I don’t even know who YOU are.”

The girl slipped the photo back in her bag, and then signed, _but... you sign when you talk, and you have brown hair-_

“Do I have blue eyes?” I interrupted.

She looked closely at me, and shook her head in response.

“Am I as tall as her?”

She shook her head again.

“Listen, I know you miss your mother. I get that, I...” I almost told her I missed Toriel, but I doubted she knew who that was.

Tears in her eyes, she signed in one last desperate attempt to convince me I was her mother, _but you have to be. I’m all alone._

On the verge of tears myself, I said, “so am I, kid. So am I. But I’m sorry, I can’t be your family, I...”

I thought back to Alice, the first human girl I interacted with so long ago. I failed her then. I couldn’t fail another. But what could I do?

The girl was now crying. I guess she really wanted me to be her mom. Deciding I couldn’t let her be alone, and wrapped my arms around her and stroked her head, something Toriel used to do when I was sad. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. I’m sure you’ll find your real mom very soon.”

The girl pulled away from me so she could sign, _but they said she was gone, that she went to heaven, and they..._ She stopped to wipe the tears from her eyes.

“Oh... I didn’t know.” So her mother died. “Hey, kid, what’s your name?”

 _F-R-A-N-C-I-S,_ she signed each letter. _But mommy called me F-R-I-S-K._

Whispering each letter to myself to get the names, I said, “F-R-A-N, fran, C-I-S, uh, cis. Francis... And, um, F-R-I-S-K... Frisk! They call you Frisk! Correct?”

She smiled and clapped her hands. Good to see her actually happy.

Frisk, okay, so that was her name.

“Alright, Frisk, it’s good to meet you. My name is Chara,” I tell her.

She tilts her head, and signs How do you spell it?

“Oh, right. C-H-A-R-A, Chara.”

Frisk signs that back to me, and smiles. Then she signs, _can I sign it like this?_ And then she makes the hand sign for “car” (the motion of turning a steering wheel), then “A” (a fist with the thumb pointed outwards).

“Car-ah, huh. Well, that’s not you pronounce it. It’s pronounced Chara is in ‘Character’. Do you know the sign for that?”

She nodded, and signed “Character”, making a C with her hand and spinning it in a circle just below her opposite shoulder, then backward, touching her chest.

“Yeah, that’s good. You can use that for my name, okay. So... Frisk, how did you get here. And can you get back?”

Frisk pointed to the white rectangle, then turned back to me and signed, _I went through the gray door._

“I, uh, only see a rectangle of light.”

 _But it’s a door!_ Frisk signs, _it goes into the Waterfall._

 _Waterfall, huh,_ I thought. Was it my Waterfall, from my world? Was she from my world? Then that would mean... Asgore... Still, she couldn’t stay here.

“Frisk,” I said, “I don’t know how you got in here, but... you should go. This is not somewhere you want to get trapped in.”

 _But, what about you?_ Frisk signs. _Please don’t stay here. Come with me._

“I... I don’t think I can leave this space. I’m trapped here. I’m sorry. Don’t get trapped here, too.”

Frisk put her hands on her head, thinking about what to do, then reached out and grabbed my hand, and pulled me towards the door.

“Woah, woah, wait!” I cry out.

As she pulled me into the door, she disappeared into the light, and I... passed right through it, and found myself on the other side of it... still in the Void.

I spun around and found the rectangle of light, the “door” I just passed through, behind me. I heard the shuffling of feet, and stepped back, as Frisk appeared through the door again.

 _Where did you go,_ She signed. _Your hand just disappeared._

I was still trying to comprehend exactly what happened. I walked through the door, but back into the Void. But I knew why it happened. “I told you, I can’t leave the Void. You can go.”

Frisk shook her head in defiance, and grabbed my hand again.

I pulled it out, and said, “I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you alone, but you need to go.”

Frisk’s eyes started to tear up, and I could feel my eyes tearing up as well. I decided to give Frisk one last hug. “I’m sorry, this is goodbye. ...It was nice to meet you, Frisk.”

Frisk held on tight to me. I could feel something, something between us. It was like when my mom helped me with my magic. Frisk then slowly let go, and signed _, Good... bye... Chara,_ signing "Character" for my name, like I said she could. Then, saddened, she walks into the door, and disappears.

I stepped back from the door, and fall on my knees. Why? Why did life have to be so cruel? First I fall into this dark place, alone, and then I get to meet someone new, just for her to have to leave without me.

I started crying. For minutes on end. Hours? I didn’t know, how could I in this timeless place.

* * *

After a while, I looked back up. The glowing rectangle door, was still there.

I stared at it, wondering if Frisk was okay. How long had it been for her?

Then I began to wonder, _if this door is still open, then can I see her world?_

I stepped close to the door, and carefully peered into it. All I saw was bright, blinding light. If the Void didn’t keep me from changing, as it seemed, I might’ve gone blind. But really, I saw nothing.

...At first, but as I tried to concentrate on maybe seeing Frisk or at least through the door, an image appeared in the door. It was blurry at first, but it began to clear up, and I saw a scene... Frisk was standing near a tall rock spire. The area seemed to be... Waterfall. So I was right. It looked to be near the exit bridge, where Gaster first found out about my fear of heights.

I noticed Frisk was looking up at the top of a rock spire. I managed to will the image up, and as it did, I could see a monster.

She was some kind of humanoid fish, with blue scales, long red hair pulled into a ponytail, red fins where a human’s ears would be, eyes with black vertical irises and yellow sclera, shark-like yellowed teeth, and of course, no nose. She had red eye shadow on, an eye patch on her left eye, and was wearing iron, knight-style armor.

She was yelling at Frisk about something, but it was unclear at first. But like the image, the sound cleared up, I could hear she was saying, “...Go ahead. Prepare however you want. But when you step forward... I will KILL you!”

What... what was she talking about. Frisk was so innocent. Why are you threatening...

Asgore’s decree... I knew this could happen, but... Wait, was this monster trying to take her Soul? Wasn’t the law to bring humans to Asgore, not kill them yourself?

I guess that didn’t really matter at the moment. Frisk was in danger. And I let her go. She warned me about something about “mean monsters”, but this...

No, I couldn’t let this happen. I couldn’t let her die!

I thrust my hand on the door. They wouldn’t go through. I pushed harder. Nothing. But I wouldn’t this door keep me back.

I began to feel something I hadn’t felt in a long time. This feeling filled my Soul, more than I feel it ever had...

Determination.

Trying harder, started using my magic. Crimson red flames danced between my hands and the light. And slowly, I began to hear the sound of something cracking...

* * *

Gaster was at home, looking through cameras he had set up a while ago, so the Royal Scientist could watch for humans, and assist the Royal Guard in their capture. But really, it was so Gaster could watch for anomalies. And one in particular...

He was watching the human girl that had fallen into the Underground recently, at least, in a sense. Last he saw her, she was poking around an inconspicuous wall in Waterfall. Nothing too important. He looked away for a second, but when he looked back... she was gone.

He began scrambling on across different camera views, hoping to find her, when he got an alert that a spatial disturbance had occurred. He switched the view to find the kid reappeared right back when she first disappeared, then, after looking around confused for a few seconds, turned around and... walked right through the wall.

His curiosity peaked, Gaster zoomed in at this strange anomaly. The girl reappeared again, but he didn’t care. As she left in tears for some reason unknown to him, he more closely inspected the wall, at least, as well as he could through a camera.

He spent the next hour or two staring at this wall, hoping to find out what just happened, but found nothing. He was starting to think he should go investigate it personally, when suddenly... The wall just blew up.

It burst open a burst of red flame, leaving only a crater in the wall. But as the smoke cleared, he could see a figure. Once he could see the finer details of this mysterious character, he almost fell back in his chair from his surprise.

A small voice escaped his skeletal mouth, simply saying, “Chara...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk has now been introduced. And this version... is mute. I don't know Sign Language, but I did go out of my way to look up some signs for the specific words (which I only had three, but there will probably be more). I also represent Sign Language the same way I do thoughts (as you may have noticed), with Italics.
> 
> Also, Chara is now freed. But how has her world changed since she was gone? If you remember the story of Undertale, then you might find details in this story that will be different now. So... what are those changes. And what happens next?


	23. Battle with Undyne

Frisk wasn’t doing alright. Undyne had struck her down hard. Her Soul was weak and she was about to be taken down... again. Time for another run, Frisk assumed.

She had gotten this far... but Undyne was tough and merciless. She was the one block in the road. Frisk just wanted to go home. Why did it have to be so hard?

Undyne walked over to her, slowly, a wide smirk on her face. Frisk couldn’t move, thanks to Undyne’s magic. All she could do is sit there and take the final blow.

Undyne raised her magic spear, a dangerous weapon made out of cyan blue magic energy, preparing for an attack. As she pulled back, Frisk shut her eyes, and-

“STOP!” Screeched a woman in the distance. Undyne stopped and turned to see who dared to interrupt her victorious moment, only to be met with a fireball exploding in her face.

As Undyne was blasted back, Frisk opened her eyes to see who the woman was. And she so pleased to see who it was.

Chara ran across the bridge, her hands blazing with red flame. She reached Frisk just as Undyne got up. Once Undyne saw Chara, she glared, and said, “What! Another human!? YOU-”

“WAIT!” Chara shouted, panting heavily. Frisk noticed her skin was white, and she very still, crouching on the ground. Then she got up and yelled, “I hate bridges! I HATE HEIGHTS! And you!” She points at Undyne. “You made me do this!”

Undyne, a little surprised and flustered by the sudden turn of events, tried to react, before Chara shot her hand out, and Undyne’s Soul popped out, a white upside-down heart, now surrounded in a blue glow. Chara then lifted her hand, and Undyne was levitated off the ground.

“What the-”

“Now... LEAVE FRISK ALONE!” Chara then swung her hand to the side, sending Undyne flying into the tunnel below the rock spire. She then stepped in front of Frisk, separating her from the tunnel, taking a defensive stance. With a snap of her fingers, two dog-like skulls appeared, floating by her sides. “It’s my turn, now.”

* * *

Having to conquer my fear of heights to get might have been a problem, but I was more focused on Frisk. I had to protect her from this monster.

“Good to see you’re okay Frisk,” I told her. “So who is this, anyways?”

 _Undyne,_ Frisk signed, _she’s mean._

I starting hearing the sound iron boots pounding on stone. Undyne reappeared into view, magic spear in hand, dashing for me. Ready for combat, I aimed my Blasters in front of me, and when Undyne reached me, I fired them. Thanks to the practice of my flame magic combined with my Blasters, they fired two searing columns of fire in a cross, forcing Undyne back.

“Okay,” Undyne said, “what the heck was all that!?”

“Magic,” I respond. “What, didn’t think humans could use that?”

Undyne smiles, and, catching me off guard, replied, “THAT’S AWESOME! I KNEW HUMANS WERE AWESOME! TELL ME, WHO TAUGHT YOU THIS! A WISE NINGA!? A REDHEADED KITUSNE!?”

Unnerved, I step back, summoning fire in my hands. “I have no idea WHAT you’re even talking about!”

“OH, COME ON, TELL ME!”

I pulled back, and threw an explosive fireball at her, launching her back again. “One, stop yelling. Two, we’re still fighting!” Then, using my blue magic, I lift Undyne into the air, and slammed her back into the ground.

Angry, Undyne quickly got back up, summoned a new magic spear, and swung it out, releasing a wave of green energy at me. When it reached me, my Soul popped out.

Looking at my Soul, the crimson red it should’ve been faded into gray around the edges, with more gray cracks around the edges as well. It was now glowing green, thanks to Undyne’s magic, but I could only stare at the damage to my Soul. Is this what the Void did to it? My determination...

Suddenly, I heard a “HEY!” from Undyne, snapping back to the fight. “We’re still fighting,” she mocked. I was annoyed, but knew I deserved that. “Green means you can’t run away. You have to face danger head-on, yadda, yadda, yadda,” Undyne told me, annoyed from having to repeat herself, and then she made another spear, and tossed it to me.

I caught it, confused at why she would give me one of her weapons, until something hit me in the shoulder. I looked up, and saw a bunch of magic bullets flying towards me. Then I remembered how green magic was supposed to work. I needed this spear, it was a kindness.

I quickly raised my spear to block the next bullet, and as I did that, a green shield appears in front of me, stopping the bullet. I spun around, and saw another bullet coming at me. To counter this one, I summoned a fireball, and launched it at the bullet. The two projectiles collided and exploded. I continued to counter the bullets in this manner, with a combination of both the spear’s shield and my fireballs.

When that was over, I turned back to Undyne. “Nice. But here’s the problem with inflicting Soul modes.”

“What?”

“They can be overridden by another Soul mode.” I waved my hands in front of my Soul, changing the mode from green to blue, and then I switched my gravity, flying (well, falling) sideways right at Undyne. I then summoned fire on my foot, so I hit her with a high-velocity, explosive kick.

Undyne was again knocked off her feet. As I flew up from the kickback of my attack, I used my blue magic to slow my fall to crawl. From there, I summoned a large number of fireballs.

Undyne got back up, and yelled, “stop knocking me on my BUTT!” And she summoned a volley of spears levitating in front of her.

We both sent our magic attacks at each other, and they exploded (mostly due to my fireballs) in between us.

I landed back on the ground, while Undyne stumbled back from the explosion. “Not good with fire magic, are you?” I mocked.

Undyne glared at me. She was sweating, and clearly frustrated. She must have never fought someone like me before, negating her Soul magic, keeping her off her feet, attacking with pure fire. She was quiet for a second, then smiled, and raised her hand.

Something shifted in my hand. I looked over, and realized that I hadn’t dropped the spear Undyne gave me, and now she was trying to control it in my hand. Before I could think to drop it, she pulled back towards her, dragging me along with it. I fell onto the ground, as Undyne grabbed her spear, then she jumped up, and slammed it into me.

With the spear pierced through my body, I could feel the magic tearing away at my already fragile soul. I tried to get up, when I heard a banging on her armor. I looked up, and Frisk was now kicking Undyne with her ballet shoes.

“Frisk, get back!” I yelled to her, before Undyne kicked her away. Angry, I reached out to my Blasters. It fired another burst of flame and then Undyne was knocked off me. I got up, and pulled the spear out of me. At least it was magic, so there was no physical injury, but I could still feel the pain in my Soul.

“You will pay...” I said slowly. I tossed the spear back at her (as not to get caught under the same trap again), and called my Blasters to my side and started charging up their true power. The interior of their mouths started glowing with white light.

Undyne got up, growled, and grabbed her spear, then slammed it into the ground. I guess she was taking a note from my book, as her Soul appeared, glowing green, and a shield appeared in front of her.

Not going to help, I thought, as I willed my Blasters to fire twin lasers at her.

I heard a cracking sound, and assumed that meant I broke her armor or something, but once the dust cleared, I saw a wall of bones in between us.

“What...?” I said.

Undyne also seemed to be confused. “Uh, Papyrus? Is that you?” She also sounded kind of hopeful when she said that, though I wasn’t sure why.

“No, not him,” said a new voice. A very familiar voice.

I spun around to see who spoke, as the wall of bones disappeared. Frisk was now back at my side, and all three of us could now see a tall figure. A skeleton wearing a long grey trench coat, black slacks, and black loafers. His face was cracked up, and his left eye was melted in.

Frisk tapped my side, and signed, _Chara, who is that?_

Undyne, probably not understanding Frisk’s sign language, asked, “Who the heck are you!?”

“A very good question,” he replied. “I... am the man who speaks in hands,” he started using sign language as he spoke to make his point. “I was the royal scientist before Alphys. I am Papyrus’s father, if you wish to know. My name is Wingding Gaster Serif, though you can refer to me as W.D. Gaster.”

I was super happy to see someone I knew. But I didn’t miss the things he said. He called Undyne “Captain”. Did Girard retire like he said, and was this woman the new Royal Guard Captain. Is that what he meant? He also mentioned he wasn’t the Royal Scientist anymore, and he had a son. He and Pristina had a kid...

“Wait, so you’re Papyrus’s dad? Then where were you this entire time!?” Undyne asked.

“That is none of your concern, Captain,” Gaster replied. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I am only here to retrieve my friend, Chara.”

“WHO!?”

“Me,” I replied. “I’m the Chara he's referring to.”

Undyne was quiet for a second, then said to Gaster, “Oh, no you don’t! Their Souls are going straight to Asgore!”

“You’ve overstepped you’re boundaries, Captain. You were supposed to capture them, and deliver them to the king. Not kill them by your own hand. But that matters not to me. You do not know what is truly going on here, nor does the king. I must take these matters into my own hands.”

Undyne shouted, “you aren’t taking them anywhere!” And angrily threw a spear at him. All Gaster did was smile, as he raised his hand, and snatched the spear out of the air just as it was about to hit, his grip on it right below the weapon’s tip.

Gaster chuckled. “You have an extraordinary gift, Captain. But I share this same gift, and I do believe I am far more experienced in its use and control. It would be wise... not to cross me.” Then, with just that one hand, he crushed the spear, snapping the spearhead right off.

Undyne glared, and summoned more spears in response.

“Very well,” Gaster replied. “Chara, young human, behind me.” We rushed behind him, as he summoned more bones behind him, shielding a separating us, as well as six of his own Gaster Blasters. “If you wish to fight, Captain, then be my guest,” Gaster continued. Then, beginning his attack, he snapped his fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Undyne vs. Chara. Chara has the advantageous magic (fire, blue magic, Blasters), but Undyne is a tough foe. But now that Gaster has tagged in, what will happen next?
> 
> I want to bring this up, I only thought of the being given a spear as an act of kindness necessary for the magic to work when I was writing this out, but it makes so much sense. Undyne does give you the spear willingly to defend yourself from her attacks, to make the fair, of course, but your soul does become green. So yeah...


	24. Gaster vs. Undyne

_SNAP!_

Gaster’s Blasters fired in unison. Undyne was able to jump out of the way, or so she thought. Unfortunately for her, with good positioning, Gaster’s Blasters outnumbered her.

Two of his Blasters struck the ground where she was, colliding into an explosion of light. But another two crossed where Undyne was going to be as she flew in the air, and the last two fire at Gaster’s feet, and the beams swept down along the ground towards Undyne.

Not expecting this carefully aimed attack, Undyne flew right into the crossed lasers. Luckily for her, she was able to send her spears towards Gaster before getting struck, but was not good for her was she got hit by the air beams, and then fell back to the ground and got struck by the sweeping beams.

There was still the matter of Undyne’s spears. As Gaster’s attack went on, he willed his wall of bones in front of him. They circled around the front of him, blocking Undyne’s spears. Some pierced through the bones, but got stuck in them. Others were caught between two bones, forced out of flight, or even snapped in two.

After all that, only one spear got through. Gaster raised his hands, and clasped them together, grabbing the spear. I thought he was going to snap this spear into pieces, like the first one he grabbed, but instead, he spread his hands along the spear, holding it in more of a two-handed standby stance.

Two of Gaster’s magic hands appeared, and grasped the ends of the spear. Suddenly, the spear started changing to a purple color. Then it began to shrink and reform, until it disappeared under four clasped hands. They then separated, revealing a purple glowing orb, with then changed into streams of light, flowing right into the magic hands before fully disappearing. Then he dispelled his magic hands.

Undyne got back up and replied with, “what. The. Heck. How did you do that?”

“Years of practice and study,” Gaster replied. Not waiting for her to retaliate, Gaster continued his attack. He slammed his hand on the ground, and bones sprung from the ground, rising, then falling back into the ground, surging towards Undyne in a large wave.

Undyne quickly jumped over the bone wave, but this seemed to be Gaster’s strategy. Keep her in the air. Before she could land, Gaster used his own blue magic to grab her, then forced her onto one of the walls in the cavern. Undyne got up, standing sideways, only to feel a rumble below her. She had jumped up as bones sprung out below her. Then Gaster forced her to another wall, where she had to jump over more bones from the ground.

This repeated, he’d send her to a wall, the floor, or the ceiling, and Undyne would have to jump over a bone attack. But as this went on, I could see Undyne slowing down, getting exhausted. After the thirteenth round of this attack, Undyne got hit by the bones. The blue on her Soul faded, and she fell to the ground.

Unwilling to give up, she quickly got up, and dashed towards Gaster. He responded with a quick wave of his hand, and another bone wave was sent out. But this one was different. As they strung out and retracted back into the earth, they did so, almost as if spinning in a spiral pattern.

Undyne jumped over the first wave, and in the air, summoned a spear, and threw it at Gaster. He simply stepped to the side and dodged it. Undyne continued to do this, jump over a wave and throw another spear, and Gaster would dodge them, or deflect them with a swift hit from one of his hands.

It seemed Undyne had gotten wise to Gaster’s tactics, and was working around them, but I could tell she was getting desperate and exhausted. She was slowing down, tiring, and trying to end this quickly.

Eventually, Gaster ended his attack, and the bones disappeared completely. Undyne stood there panting. In one last desperate move, she slammed her hand on the ground. Numerous cyan circles appeared on the ground in various spots, including one under Gaster, one under Frisk, and one under me.

Suddenly, spears shot out of the circles near Undyne. They continued to shoot out, then disappear, quickly getting closer to the three of us.

I immediately jumped out and grabbed Frisk, pushing the two of us out of the way of Undyne’s attack. Gaster, however, simply stepped back, raised his Blasters above him and aimed them down, and fired.

As the beams struck the ground, they started spinning in a circle, and expanding outward, destroying the spears as the popped up, near us. They did shift in position enough that they barely missed me and Frisk. But the intended effect was completed. Undyne’s arsenal was destroyed (at least what she had summoned for now).

Before she could react, Gaster raised his hands, and a group of light-blue bones popped out of the ground below Undyne. I knew this attack. It wouldn’t hurt Undyne, as long as she didn’t move. Meaning she was trapped. Gaster then willed his Blasters to aim towards Undyne.

“This is it, Captain,” Gaster said. “You’ve lost.”

Undyne looked like she wanted to complain or something, but she didn’t. She was defeated.

“Return home,” Gaster continued, “I’ll be taking Chara with me. As for the child.”

“She’s coming with us, too, Wingding,” I told him.

He looked at Frisk, and sighed. “Very well.” He dispelled his bones and Blasters, and turned to leave. “Come, Chara... it’s time to go home.”

I turned to Undyne, who just stood there, glaring at us, but unmoving, silent. “Come on, Frisk,” I say, grabbing her hand, and taking her to follow Gaster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we head into the second half of the Battle with Undyne, and we now have Gaster vs. Undyne. Not a very long battle, but I didn't want to drag this out much longer. Not to mention, Undyne would logically still be tired. It was more of a demonstration of Gaster's magical ability, though I didn't want to reveal everything he can do now.
> 
> The next chapter is the last chapter of Book 1. Then comes Book 2.


	25. Reset

Now that the fight with Undyne was over, and the calm had settled in, I had a chance to take it all in. Being back in the... real world, I supposed you’d call it. No that sounds kind of strange, somehow.

Never the less, it felt strange being here. It was so familiar, but I knew something had changed. What happened to Girard, the previous Captain? Who was Papyrus? Why was Gaster no longer the Royal Scientist?

Gaster led us down into the valley, towards his house. Frisk looked around in wonder.

“Enjoying seeing new places,” I asked.

Frisk nodded in response.

“Well, you might like our home. It’s not much, I imagine, but it’s cozy.”

Gaster scoffed at this.

I glared at him. “Is something wrong, Wingding?”

“Nothing,” he replied. “Nothing you should concern yourself with.”

That meant he was hiding something.

He sighed. “Chara, things have changed... since you were gone.”

“Well, that seems pretty obvious. New Captain of the Royal Guard. And... what happened to your position as Royal Scientist? Also, who-”

“What I mean is...” Gaster interrupted, “some of those you knew... they aren’t around anymore. Some...” he shook his head. “As for your question, I quit when the CORE was finished. And I abandoned our original plans. It’s simply a generator now, powering the Underground.

“Wait, why?”

“When I lost you... I knew the project was a mistake. It cost me much.” He stopped and turned to me. “Whatever happened to you, Chara... somehow...”

“Yes, Gaster?” I said, switching to back to his other name.

“It was like you ceased to exist. In fact, I think you did. No one remembered who you were after you fell. Not my father, not your friends, not even the king. Somehow, I was the only one who did.”

I took this all in. No one remembers who I am. Not even Asgore? Then... he knew why Asriel died... how does he... he could he explain...

“Chara,” Gaster said, snapping me back into reality (figuratively). “What happened to you, anyway?”

“...I...” I started, back what do I say. “I fell into the area between dimensions. The empty space between entire worlds, universes. I suppose you’d call it... the Void.”

“How, that doesn’t make sense.”

“Spatial manipulation, I guess. That’s what we were working on.”

“...So I was right.”

“You really abandoned the original CORE project.”

“Yes... the cost wasn’t worth it. Come, we’re close.”

The old house came into view, a two-story building with a tool shed on the side. It has seen some wear over the years (at least I assumed it was years), but was still in good enough condition. The blue paint was faded and peeling off, though.

Gaster led us inside. I could see the familiar dark blue walls and gray coaches of the living room.

“Chara, would you like some tea?”

“...Um, yeah sure. Frisk do you want some.”

Frisk was hiding behind me, but she nodded. Gaster's expression changed to one of annoyance, but he said, “very well. I have some Golden Flower Tea. I know it’s your favorite, Chara.”

“Yeah... Hey, Gaster, I...” I tried to think of what to say. “How long has it been?”

Gaster’s gaze went black, the white dots in his eyes disappearing. “Two decades. Chara, it’s been twenty years since you fell.”

“Twenty... twenty years!” I replied.

“Yes, though if it’s any comfort, you haven’t aged a day, it seems,” Gaster said.

Well, time didn’t really pass in the Void, but I would’ve liked to be taller. And still, this knowledge really wasn’t much of a comfort.

Gaster left into the kitchen without another word, preparing our tea. Frisk and I both sat down on one of the couches, while I tried to process what he just told. I knew things had changed, but so much?

After a few short minutes, Gaster returned and gave us both our tea. He started taking sips of his own, while me and Frisk slowly started drinking ours.

After a few sips, Gaster put down his cup, and said, “So, I would imagine you have questions?”

I finished my sip of tea, and while putting it down, said, “Yeah, I do have a lot of questions. You said a lot of my friends were gone. Also, they didn’t remember me. What about the assistants?”

“That’s your first question? Well, I suppose we should start slow...” Gaster responded. “They also ceased to exist. I found out when my father didn’t remember I had any personal assistants. I went to their families, and they didn’t even know what I was talking about. I couldn’t even give them a proper apology for their loss.”

“Do you know where Girard is, now? Can I see him?”

“I retired around the same time I quit my job. I remained friends with him after which, all the way until he... he fell down.”

“Like, ‘fallen down’, not ...fell from a high place,” I asked.

Gaster nodded.

I knew what that meant. Monsters get depressed, and since they can’t emotionally maintain their form with that kind of sadness, they enter a comatose state. Monsters call this “fallen down”. Usually, they don’t wake back up.

“Is he... is he still...?” I tried to ask.

“No. I was at his side when he turned to dust, alongside his son and daughter,” Gaster answered. “They lost their mother years earlier, too, so they were alone. I took care of them, with my family, until the son found a way to sustain themselves. They live in Snowdin now.”

“Okay... And how long has this Undyne person been Captain?”

“Only a few years. Both the roles of Captain of the Royal Guard and the Royal Scientist... Asgore took a long time to fill those roles once they were empty.”

“Okay, what about the ghost family. How are they doing?”

“Unfortunately, most of them had left now. I think many of them wanted to find bodies.”

That made sense, ghost monsters could possess inanimate objects, and use that a physical body. But if most of them had gone...

“What about Blooky and Hapi?” I asked.

Gaster gaze lowered. “Napstablook hasn’t left. He still takes care of the Snail Farm. But he is the only one left. And Hapstablook... from what I’ve heard, she’s moved to New Home. Don’t know what happened to her since then.”

“You mean she just left Blooky!?” I cried out. “When she promised to take her friends with her to become performers together! How dare she!”

“It may not be that simple. I don’t know the reasons as to why she left.”

“But you said all the other ghosts left to find bodies.”

“Yes, but Hapstablook’s leave was... I didn’t hear much about it, so I don’t know.”

I crossed my arms. How could she? How could Hapi betray her cousin like that? I was angry, but I calmed myself down. There was one more set of questions I had to ask.

“How’s Pristina? And Semi? They still live here right? I haven’t seen them since I got back.” I took a moment to think about something. “They wouldn’t remember me, would they?”

“Chara... I...” Gaster paused for a bit. “Yes, they didn’t remember you, but that’s not the issue here. They’re... not with us anymore.”

“What do you mean...?”

“They... died... over a decade ago. They were together, shopping I believe... I got there too late. All that was left was their dust.”

I was stunned. I couldn’t believe it. The man who raised me when my previous family abandoned me, and one of my best friends and practically sister. They were gone...

Everyone I knew was gone.

I just began crying. How could this happen? I lost so much. I came back, and yet, I still lost everything.

Gaster walked over, and put me in his embrace. “It’s okay. I still here.”

“But everyone else is gone. And they didn’t even remember who I was. I couldn’t be there for Pristina.”

“I know. But I promise, I will still be here.”

“Okay... Wingding, I have one last question.”

“Yes, Chara.”

“I heard you mention a ‘Papyrus’. Who’s that.”

Gaster pulled back. “Papyrus is, or was, someone... special to me. My son. But...”

“So, you do have a kid.”

“Yes, but... the human child...”

“Frisk? what about her?”

“You can’t trust her.” Gaster got up, and turned to her. “I recommend you leave now.”

Frisk nervously started getting up, but held her down, saying, “no, you stay there.” I got up and stared Gaster down. Well, as best I could, being much shorter than him. “What’s your problem!”

“I told you, this is nothing you should concern yourself with. I...” He stopped, his eyes wide, as if he just realized something.

I took advantage of his pause to speak out against him. “I know you’re hiding something. Not about Pristina and Semi, but about Frisk. What’s going on.”

He turned away. “You won’t believe me.”

“I just walked out of the Void, where nothing exists. Try me.”

He took a deep breath. “...She can reset time.”

I was quiet as I took that in. He was right, it was hard to believe. But I’ve never known Gaster to lie. So I turned to Frisk. “Is this true?”

She looked down, and signed, _when I die._

“When you... die?”

“Chara,” Gaster responded, “every time she dies, time rewinds back to a certain point. What that point depends on the person. For me, I am in the middle of research. The child is also not the only one to have shown this ability, she is merely the latest. A Reset, a simple name for this ability, as I have come to hear it be called, though from an anonymous source.”

Gaster stepped away, and turned back to us. “The thing is, Chara, no one remembers the reset, what happened in the previous timeline, before time turned back. There are a few exceptions, including me. I believe it may be related to how I was able to remember you, Chara. A superior Preservation trait. I remember every timeline, and I’ve what she’s done.”

His eyes switched to the similar red right and purple left, his Soul vision, for effect. “Every monster she’s come across... every monster she encounters... she kills. She leaves a trail of dust behind her. Papyrus... dead. This timeline is no different. Each timeline, some monster kills her, and slowly but surely, she keeps making progress.”

Again, I was stunned. I turned back to Frisk. “Is this... please don’t say this is true.”

Frisk didn’t make a movement for a while, then, her hands shaking, signed, _I’m sorry. They hurt me. I... don’t want to die. But they hurt me and I need to fight back._

I couldn’t believe it. She seemed so innocent. There was no way I would guess she killed monsters, or anybody.

But as I took a good look at her, I noticed tears in her eyes. I thought about what she said, and I realized something.

“You don’t know what to do,” I said.

“Excuse me?” Gaster replied.

“Wingding! She’s a child! She doesn’t know what to do! All she knows is that... monsters keep attacking her. Maybe she could try to get away, but they keep coming, and after a while... she... snaps, I guess. So, she has to fight back. And they die. She doesn’t know what their thinking. She only knows she must survive!”

“Even still-”

“NO!” I yell, interrupting Gaster, “she doesn’t know what she must do to pacify monsters. She’s scared, Wingding. She’s scared.” Tears start forming in my eyes now. “I know you hate humans, but if you wanted to stop the killing, when killing her only resets time, you should have befriended her. Shown her what to do.”

I turned to Frisk, and gently grabbed her hand. “Frisk, we need to go. I'll help you. No more killing. Papyrus will be fine, as well as everyone else.”

She looked me, a little unsure, but nodded, and got up, letting me guide her back outside.

“Chara,” Gaster calls out. “If she resets, you might-”

“Disappear,” I reply. “I came back, and now it will be like it never happened.” I thought about that, and then said, “I feel like... that won’t happen. Now that I’m back, I’m here to stay.” Then I exited the house.

I guided Frisk over to the Clearing, a private place we could talk, alone. Unless something has changed since I fell, no one really knew about this place.

I had Frisk kneel down, and I knelt down with her. “Frisk, I need you to do something with me.”

 _What?_ she signed.

“I... want you to Reset, and I want to go back with you.”

_But I have to die, I-_

“Frisk,” I say, “I think you’re thinking about this wrong. Think of it like... magic. I can use magic, and I know, it comes from you’re Soul. May I?”

She didn’t seem to know what I was talking about, but she opened up. I then pulled her Soul out of her body.

I saw a red heart. She had Determination, perhaps more than I’ve ever had. But something was also off about it. There was something... fragile about it.

I brought out my own Soul, and said, “together. Now focus. Think about going back, and taking me with you, okay? Can you do that?”

Frisk was still for a bit, then nodded. She raised her hands over out Souls, and I followed by resting my hands on top of them.

I could feel power come from her Soul. Then, a bright white light appeared from it, growing brighter, and engulfing us, as my consciousness faded...

* * *

Now alone, Gaster was left to think about what Chara said. Frisk... that’s what Chara called her. She was just a child. Could she really be held accountable for all the death behind her? Should he have helped her?

Gaster reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone. He put in a number, and held the phone to the side of his head, where an ear should be, and waited as it rang.

When his call was answered, Gaster said, "hello, Sans. I feel that we don't have much time before another we have another Reset. There is something we need to talk about, quickly..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter for Book 1! At the beginning of the next book, we'll be starting the main story.
> 
> As for this chapter, we now have the setup. We know Chara's past (at least in the Underground), and we know Frisk's past. The stage has been set for the new story.


End file.
